Gay bars bushwick
The problem with Bushwick: not enough lgbtq+ bars
Despite the greatest fears of right-wing homophobes, it seems that the queer agenda is failing — at least in Bushwick, that is. Despite being a highly homo-populated neighborhood (as is much of Brooklyn), it seems that there are just not enough places where one can go to explicitly avoid all those pesky straight people.
Yesterday, Bushwick Daily raised the question of whether queer people of the gayborhood need more hangout spots for themselves, or if they’d rather just be more assimilated into the predominantly linear scene. And although the answer given by James Ryder was fairly neutral and open to the possibilities of either option, I’m just gonna appear out and tell it: give us more gay bars!
It’s not that we don’t want to be around direct people ever. (Though breeders be warned: if we homos were going to start a separatist colony anywhere in Brooklyn, it would probably be in Bushwick because it’s so damn tough to get to anyway.) It’s just that we don’t want to be around straight people sometimes.We don’t want to hurt your direct people feelings or make you sense le
The first time I went to a gay club was nothing like how it is in the popular imagination. You know, those EDM-soundtracked visions of gay men experiencing a sudden meaning of belonging and liberation. Then they rip their shirts off and move like no one’s watching. My late hours out was awkward, uneventful. Oh, and white. Very pale. I was 19 and a sophomore at New York University. My roommate, a gay light boy, invited me out on a lacklustre Thursday with an obvious, slightly condescending, gay-fairy-godmother foundation to his behavior. “I can’t think you haven’t gone out to a gay club yet,” he’d been saying to me for months. “Let’s modify that.” So we went to the lamest event you can think of: an 18+ evening [New York’s drinking age is 21]. I can’t retain the name of the spot, or what Manhattan gaybourhood it was in, but I can remember how shadowy the space was and how chaotic things felt. There was so much to take in: Muscled go-go boys dancing in jockstraps, muscled bartenders pouring drinks, and, again, muscled patrons standing around and devouring each other with their eyes. Something felt off about the whole encounter. Like everyone had received the memo to spend their adolescen
New York has played a major role in LGBTQ+ history and it’s no wonder there are a slew of bars that have been beacons for the community (and prime party spots) for decades. The best gender non-conforming bars in NYC range from dive bars to dance clubs, with historic spots like the Stonewall Inn anchoring them all. The West Village is a classic destination for queer nightlife, but you’ll find something electrifying and welcoming in pretty much any part of the city.
You can check out the foremost drag shows or cabaret performances, but these queer spaces all offer something unique, from cozy vibes and cheap drinks to high-energy dancing and brunch parties - sometimes in the matching place on different days! Maybe your interests skew more trendy and urbane, or perhaps you're more of the down-and-dirty hook-up spots, the "what happens on the weekends, stays on the weekends" type — we're not here to judge! There are plenty of LGBTQ+ things to do in New York, but if it’s a bar you’re looking for, we’ve got you covered.
RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best bars in NYC
May 2025: We removed Ginger's and Barracuda Lounge. We added Loafers Cocktail Bar.
The bars are back: Inside Brooklyn’s queer and dyke bar resurgence
By Arielle Silver-Willner
It’s a dark, frigid weeknight in Brooklyn, but Lex (the app affectionately acknowledged as queer Craigslist) is buzzing: queer friends in search of fun in Bushwick, a lonely femme looking for company at Ginger’s in Park Slope, a missed connection at The Woods in Williamsburg. From Bay Ridge to Bed-Stuy, everyone wants to know: “What’s the action tonight?”
Before the early ‘90s, Brooklyn was home to a sparkling abundance of dyke and queer spaces. For the last not many decades, though, Ginger’s Prevent in Park Slope remained Brooklyn’s sole surviving dyke bar. The scarcity has been a result of assimilation, as non-queer spaces have grown more hospitable to the queer society, in addition to various economic and legislative factors. Now, the pendulum is swinging back. Like fanny packs and The Spice Girls, the bars are back — and this time, with new opportunities for inclusiveness.
The state of the scene
In addition to the loosening of Covid restrictions, the Female homosexual Bar Project, an Emmy-winning film-based advocacy project operational to generate support and visibility for lesbian bars, has played a starr