Closed: The gay nightlife scene in the Bronx goes out of business
Every Friday evening at the Bronx’s only gay bar, a queen of the night held court.
Specializing in Whitney Houston, Kelly KaBoom also keeps Beyoncé and Ariana Grande on heavy rotation. As Identity’s resident drag dancer, she danced and lip synced in 4-inch heels, shimmering costumes and wigs — “the bigger, the better.” Kelly KaBoom, also known as JyQuan Reede outside the club, did medleys, took requests and always staged “a reveal,” a dramatic costume convert mid-set.
“The crowd that comes in — they&#;re recording, they’re screaming your name,” says Reede. “I love entertaining people; seeing people smile and have a pleasant time.”
But in mid-February, Reede learned there would be no more “Lit Fridays with Kelly Kaboom” at Identity in Woodlawn Heights. The bar closed permanently, exiting the Bronx with no LGBTQ nightlife space &#; again.
“We had so many LGBTQ places in New York, but most of them got shut down,” says Reede, a North Bronx resident who’s been doing drag for 20 years. “For us to have one that was loc
, PM
Location: Lappeenranta, Finland
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I'm vertical as an arrow - % heterosexual, but asking this on behalf of a Finnish friend of mine who is gay:
Are there nowadays any gay bars or same-sex attracted scene in South Bronx neighbourhoods such as Mott Haven, Melrose, Longwood, Hunts Point, Morrisania, Crotona Park East, West Farms and East Tremont?
I'm sure there are gay bars in Harlem.
, PM
Location: The Bronx
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The only gay lock in the Bronx is all the way to the North, in Woodlawn, in front of the cemetery, in a heavily Irish neighborhood that has more in common with neighboring South Yonkers than the rest of the borough and is enclaved and separated from the rest of the borough.
South Bronx people tend not to be big fans of anything LGBTQ.
, AM
Location: Lappeenranta, Finl
An old Port Morris motorcycle repair shop will soon grow the only male lover bar in a borough with several spaces for the LGBTQ de Jesus said she is hoping to expose the three-story club and restaurant, which will feature kingly and burlesque shows, in August.
With exposed pipes and yellow walls, the stucco-fronted space looks favor it has weathered some storms. But so has de Jesus, 58, who has opened three homosexual bars in the Bronx since Each closed within about three years, for reasons ranging from motorcycle gang aggression to a barrage of neighborhood calls. But in the face of a changing South Bronx and a more supportive business group, de Jesus believes her fourth initiative will be the one that sticks.
“I think this is my time,” said de Jesus, adding that she hopes a rooftop garden at the East nd St. venue is also in the works.“The one-of-a-kind thing about this establishment is that I&#;m open to everything. I desire everybody to be comfortable.”
To ensure that that is the case, de Jesus says she will poll area residents to determine a name for the bar, and to learn what lgbtq+ and straight residen
From their friend Junior serving his hot pot diet in the lounge and outdoor patio to door host and head of security St. Lawrence welcoming guests on the door, the Warehouse was built around a sense of community. “That’s the family we had right there and the love we had for each other,” adds Kevin Omni. “We really extended ourselves as family. The Warehouse not only gave us the music, the crowd and the dancing – it gave us a feeling. And New York Metropolis had lost that feeling that you had at places like Better Days. When the Warehouse opened I really thought of it as a Improved Days for the ’90s.”
The Warehouse also became the place to notice some of the superb DJs in a enormous room atmosphere. “We were one of the most powerful clubs in Recent York, and Mike and I thought we should invite guests to act so they could carry their following to mix with our crowd,” says Jackson. During its eight years many of Andre Collins’ own DJ idols appeared at the Warehouse. “I got to compete with Louie Vega, Kenny Carpenter, Teddy Douglas and Danny Krivit – there was a whole bunch of them,” recalls Collins. The