Discover the shifting typology of the gay bar in New York City

(Recommended for ages 16 and up)

Private Group: Please contact us for pricing and availability

Duration

2 Hours

Overview

From discos and dive bars to piano bars and cabarets, this walking tour looks at the shifting typology of the gay bar in New York City. Long the center of cultural evolutions and political activism, gay bars are critical locations to understand queer history in America. You'll bar hop through stories of community, protest, artistic achievement, and plain old intrigue.

All this, in the name of sparking a conversation about how to properly preserve and celebrate New York City’s “lavender landmarks" during one of the hardest times for nightlife venues in recent memory.

• This walking tour is ideal for fans of nightlife, historic bars, and LGBTQ culture in New York City.

Tour Highlights

• Walt Whitman's favorite "gay bar" from 1859
• A 1980s three-level gay disco with a planetarium dome dance floor
• A 1925 lesbian tearoom where men were "admitted but not welcome"
• Starlite Lounge - previously one of the oldest Black-owned gay bars in New York City
• The 1950s East Village drag club whose patrons included Judy Garland and Elizabeth Taylor
• Ramrod - the site of a little known anti-gay massacre along the Hudson River
• Bum Bum Bar - a working-class Latina lesbian bar and important site of queer Queens activism
• An after-hours club where yet another police raid ended in violence just months after the Stonewall uprising

Please Note

Tours take place rain or shine — dress for the weather!