With June marking Pride Month, it’s a good time to celebrate NYC’s queer history and current community—from bars and restaurants that serve up the city’s best local drag performers to stores that stock everything from feminist jewelry to rainbow-colored candle holders. And while you’ll find plenty of LGBTQ-friendly businesses throughout the city, there are also a fair share in neighborhoods beyond the well-known gay areas of Hell’s Kitchen and Greenwich Village.
The West Village has a long history as a gathering place for gay and lesbian communities, with several welcoming speakeasies and salons. It’s also where the iconic Stonewall Inn is located, a national historic landmark where the 1969 uprising kicked off the gay rights movement. But LGBT culture has spread across all five boroughs, with many gay bars and clubs now located in areas like Brooklyn and Queens. Check out the map from the Infatuation to discover some of the hottest gay bars, clubs and more in Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and even Park Slope, Manhattan.
Other highlights on the list include Brooklyn’s The Cubbyhole, a lesbian bar that feels more like home than your average dive. A cozy, eclectic space, it’s where you can order cheap happy hour drinks and play jukebox tunes on the weekends. It’s also one of the city’s few remaining lesbian bars, a rarity in a town that boasts just three of them.
Another glamorizing gem is NuBar, a gay-owned and -operated restaurant in Farmingdale that offers pub-style eats and a calendar packed with wild events for the LGBTQ community. You’ll enjoy a year-round patio, live DJ sets and drag bingo in addition to regular karaoke and dancing nights.
For more of a shopping LGBTfriendly businesses near me experience, check out Bushwick’s Queer Shop Collective, a collective-owned storefront that offers queer, feminist and witchcraft essentials. Pick up a cute t-shirt from Man Your Style or a kitchy Golden Girls-themed candle, while you can also stock up on feminist and transgender beauty products from Fluide Beauty.
A number of LGBT-friendly eateries have also popped up around the city, including this vegan spot in East Harlem, which serves a menu that’s entirely meat-free and dairy-free. Founded by a chef from Brazil, it’s a great place to try out vegan food and drink.
Several online business platforms now allow you to indicate your sexual orientation, gender identity and more in order to help potential customers learn more about your business. For example, OpenTable allows you to mark yourself as LGBTfriendly when creating a new profile and show up in searches for restaurants that cater to queer people. And the Everywhere Is Queer map is a useful tool for anyone looking for LGBTQ-friendly places to dine from coast to coast. The website’s creator, Sam Sprinkman, explains that the goal is to “showcase the incredible work that LGBTQ entrepreneurs are doing all over the country.” The map will continue to grow as more businesses add their profiles. To get involved, visit the Everywhere Is Queer page.
Friday, December 22, 2023
