WORLD FAMOUS STONEWALL CLOSES DOORS
When we visited Stonewall today, we were shocked that this landmark has been padlocked and shut by the buildings landlord for, according to the bartender, non-payment of rent to the tune of $175.000. The bartender went on to say the the owner told him the place was being renovated, but said he was flat out lieing. Meanwhile a sigh over the club says, " Restaurant for Rent", meaning the landlord is looking for a new tenent.
The bartender also said that this is happening all over in the gay community with straight people buying up very sucessfull gay clubs and running them into the ground. One only has to look in the West Village once a mecca for the gay life where businesses once gay owned and operated have been brought by straight people hoping to cash in on the powerfull gay dollar. Only problem is, they don't know what the gay community wants and make the clubs into what most straight clubs are which is boring. One only has to walk around the gay village, to see every day gay owned and operated clubs and stores are either closed or sold to straights who in turn change everything. Almost gone are the days when you could see gay couples holding hands, it's more like straight couples walking around with their baby strollers. This has been the history of gay life in NYC. The gays move in and make exciting neighborhoods with cool clubs, stores and culture. The straights find out, they love what has been created and they move in, their friends move in and they destroy the culture with their ideas and ideals. Not many people would know that this happened many, many years ago when the first gay bars were on first and second avenues in NYC. This was one of the first gay mecca's that was destroyed by the straights, sending the gay community to create the West Village. With the influx of the straights in the West Village, the gay commuinity moved on to Chelsea where the straights have once again invaded sending the gay community to Hells Kitchen where more and more gay clubs are opening. History will repeat !
( Stonewall around the time of the riots)
( Stonewall padlocked today )
( Photos- WWW.JamesEdstrom.Com )
1 Comments:
This is nothing new. The "Stonewall" that just closed was not the original one. In the 1970s and 1980s, the site was a bagel take-out place called BageLand. The present-day "Stonewall" opened in the 1990s, using the same name as the famous one that was closed in 1969.
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