Gay bars park slope brooklyn
Proud history: Longtime Park Slope gay lock Excelsior announces closure
They had a homosexual old time!
Park Slope’s top gay hangout will shut its doors on July 31 after 20 years in the neighborhood.
Excelsior owners Richard Kennedy and Mark Nayden announced the closure of the Park Slope gay block in a June 3 Facebook publish, crediting community celebration for the watering hole’s longevity — and rising rents for its closure.
“More than ever, rising costs, love rent and taxes, make your neighborhood bars and restaurants struggle every day,” read the send signed by Kennedy and Nayden. “Twenty years of serving this community is something we are proud of, and in this Nature Pride Month we plan on celebrating each and every day.”
The owners of the queer watering hole between 15th and 16th streets had been in negotiations with their landlord since their lease expired in October, but the only deal they could settle on was accompanied by a meager one-year extension. Meanwhile, their liquor license — which can only be renewed in two-year intervals — is set to expire on Aug. 1, and the prospect of spending $10,000 for a permit that might bec
PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — If you desire a spot to celebrate Pride in New York Capital look no further than Park Slope, critics say.
Ginger's Bar, a beloved lesbian bar (the only one in Brooklyn), and Good Judy, a homosexual bar and event venue, were named among the foremost LGBTQ bars to celebrate Pride — and visit year round — by Eater editors.
The two Fifth Way bars are named among 17 LGBTQ spots on the list — including some steeped in history for their gay-rights advocacy — which was released Wednesday by Eater in honor of the start of Pride Month.
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Editors described Ginger's as a "lesbian hangout at its core" that "welcomes all members of the LGBTQ+ community and attracts bargoers of all ages and genders."
The block — located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fifth Street — closed for over a year during the pandemic, reopening at the termination of 2021 to a good deal of fanfare.
Find out what's happening in Park Slopefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The low-lighting, cheap drinks, kitschy decor and pool table produce Ginger's a "legit dive," editors said.
But, thanks in
Rising Cafe
History
Born in Listowel, Ireland, Rena Blake (b. 1965) immigrated to the United States in 1984 with her then-husband. Living and productive in the Bronx as a nanny during her first years in Brand-new York, she was heavily involved with the Irish community, though purely socially. It was not until the advocacy efforts of the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization (ILGO) to march during the annual St. Patrick’s Day Procession on Fifth Avenue in the early 1990s that Blake became politically active. Closely following the corporation, she became a member in 1992, which was one of the biggest catalysts for her coming out. She recalled to The Irish Times in 2015, “By the accompanying St. Patrick’s Day I had left my marriage, friends, the whole Irish community in the Bronx and moved out to Brooklyn. I came out as a lesbian.” She continued,
Rena Blake, The Irish Times, 2015
Blake consequently moved to Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, leaving her family and starting anew. A several years later, in 1996, she and her confidant Christine Marinoni (b. 1967) left their res
Everything Felt Cursed After Carrie Nation Closed
The most Brooklyn thing I ever said, I said at Carrie Nation, a gay bar on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope named after the famous Prohibitionist who carried an axe to chop open barrels of alcohol. It was a classic Brooklyn cash-only bar.
One night, a modern guy was complaining loudly about how they didn’t take cards, waving a Visa around and saying he’d buy everyone a drink if they would just charge him. No one was looking at him; everyone was just waiting for him to shut up and go down the street to the ATM. Finally he said, to the bartender but also to the silent room, “Come on, how about you guys give the new guy a welcome?”
“We just did,” I said. The stop of the room snickered.
He left and we never saw him again.
Before I first walked into Carrie, I usually endured queer bars. When I first came out, going to one was like a kind of torture; nights spent acting casual as the anticipation of meeting someone rose and then often fell. I might go with friends or see friends when I showed up, but they were usually trying to meet someone, too. The best ones had style, but there was still a dull sam