Gay bars in brooklyn
Starlite Lounge
History
Formerly located in the building at the corner of Bergen Street and Nostrand Avenue in Crown Heights, the Starlite Lounge was established by openly male lover African-American entrepreneur Harold “Mackie” Harris as an LGBT-inclusive bar in 1962.
Starlite was possibly the first Black-owned gay exclude in Brooklyn, catering to LGBT people of hue at a time when the Mafia operated most LGBT bars in Modern York. Harris lived in the neighborhood and created what became a famous safe-haven in central Brooklyn that catered to a diverse clientele, LGBT and straight, depending on the hour of the evening and day of the week.
Kate Kunath, director of We Came To Sweat, 2014
Between 1992 and 2004, the bar was owned by William “Butch” King, who was the resident DJ and helped establish Starlite as a destination for house music and dancing.
By the end of its 50-plus-year run, the self-described “oldest black-owned non-discriminating block in New York” catered to LGBT people of color and a broader clientele throughout the week and especially at Friday ni
Brooklyn is a vibrant hub of Gay culture, offering a diverse array of gay bars that cater to every taste and design. NYC’s most hipster borough, Brooklyn has long been a cultural hotspot in New York Metropolis, attracting creatives, foodies, and nightlife enthusiasts from around the world. From the vibrant art scene in Bushwick to the trendy boutiques (and now more bougie spots favor Hermes) in Williamsburg, there’s always something new and electrifying to discover in this dynamic and ever-changing borough.
There’s been a bit of a Brooklyn homosexual bar renaissance with at least four new queer spaces opening up since the pandemic, including one just a few weeks ago. And these aren’t all just your typical gay bars attracting the alike type of queer guy. These are all actual diverse, interesting places with their own singular vibes.
Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a seasoned Brooklynite, there are plenty of options for LGBTQ+ travelers looking to explore the city’s vibrant homosexual scene. From lively dance floors to cozy hangouts, these gay bars I’ve picked below are my personal favorites—each helps to design fun and secure spaces where the community
This new queer bar in Greenpoint is far from divey
When you picture a gay bar, there’s probably a very specific position of details that come to mind: cheap, strong drinks served in plastic cups, a sticky gyrate floor and, more likely than not, a bathroom that looks straight out of an apocalypse film.
And, while gay dive bars are fun for a savage night out or when you’re a college student, it would also be kind of friendly to get a place where we could enjoy a friendly, high-quality cocktail in a classy setting around other queer people.
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Thanks to ANIMAL, a fresh queer bar at 307 Meeker Route in Greenpoint, we finally possess that.
Opened by Jim Morrison Hevert, who co-owns The Exley in Williamsburg, and Ashton Correa, who formerly worked as the director of People and Culture at the Ace Hotel, ANIMAL has been a dream project nearly 20 years in the making.
“We all grew up going to gay bars, many of which aren’t Diverse owned, which served the lowest quality drinks and lacked a queer aesthetic,” Correa tells Time Out. "As we’ve gotten olde
Heights Supper Club
History
In December 1961, Martha and William Leaver took over the failing restaurant and liquor license of the Heights Supper Club, which had been operating at 80 Montague Street since 1950. While the old restaurant had relied on a straight clientele, the new owners decided to appeal to the growing number of gay men who lived in Brooklyn Heights or visited to participate in its active gay scene, which included a number of well-known cruising places (notably the Promenade) and several popular mixed bars that permitted a certain amount of same sex cruising. The Heights Supper Club appears to have been one of the first bars in Brooklyn to have catered to a same-sex attracted male clientele. Opening at a hour when members of the LGBT collective were subject to arrest on a morals charge for “solicitation” or “disorderly conduct” and a bar could forfeit its license for serving drinks to known or suspected gay men or lesbians, the fresh owners installed a system of lights that would flash when a someone suspected of creature a police officer entered the premises.
The club soon drew complaints from straigh