By Special Guest Contributor Sarah Hall Pride is an amazing rainbow colored chose your-own-adventure that can make your grandma break out the glitter. This week long extravaganza is filled with parades, street fairs, bar parties and dancing on the pier. Pride offers something for everyone. It’s one of those great NYC events where millions of people turn out and everyone is welcome: boys, girls, families and even the straight people. That’s right straights, this one is for you too. Pride is a celebration of difference and the acceptance of those differences, yours included.
Successfully navigating pride can be difficult even for veterans, but is usually a daunting obstacle course for first time priders. One of the biggest challenges is that like NYC, there are just too many choices and “I want to have the most fun possible but don’t know where to go” hysteria can quickly set in. To help you combat this, we have surveyed several NYC Pride repeat offenders to find out the best spots for your to pride it up like a pro.
Parades/Festivals
THE MARCH
Sunday, June 27, 12pm
Fifth Ave & 36th St to the West Village
Map: http://www.nycpride.org/march.html
This one is obvious; it’s the grand finale and the showstopper. But while going to the parade is easy, the trick is finding the right place to watch it. The first criteria for picking your spot should be one that’s near a public bathroom since finding a place to go will be one of the biggest challenges you will face on Sunday. The second thing to keep in mind is who you and your friends want to be around when the party starts. I’ve always found that the most fun crowds are in the West Village with the most coveted viewing spots centered around the cabaret bar Duplex.
Girl Party Picks
STILETTO PRIDE @
MARITIME HOTEL CABANAS
Sunday, June 27th, 2pm-12am
17th St & 9th Ave
Cover: $15 before 6 pm $20 after
Link: http://www.myspace.com/stilettoevent
This party is a staple in the NYC scene but on holidays like Pride, the promoter Maggie C really brings out the big guns. This year Stiletto will have a circus theme complete with cotton candy machines, dunk tanks fortune tellers and a very pretty crowd. The only draw back is that the venue has small bathrooms so be sure to “go” before you go.
TRUCKSTOP NYC
TOUCH NIGHTCLUB
Saturday, June 26th, 10pm-4am
Cover: $20 before 11pm, $25 after, $20 Guests w/Rapture party wristbands
Link: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=131730960177245&ref=ts
Proposition is the newest NYC girl party and it draws a great crowd every week. For Pride, Prop is teaming up with the legendary girl party from LA. Truckstop for its first east coast appearance. Truckstop is known for drawing a diverse crowd, so expect to check your inhibitions at the door and step into a little girl on girl spring break paradise where there is something for everyone.
Boy Party Picks
MATINEE NEW YORK PRIDE 2010
Governor's Island
Saturday June 26th
6PM TO 12AM
Link: www.Matineenewyork.com
Pride will spread beyond Manhattan at this over the top event. Touted as "Europe's Biggest Party", Matinee New York comes to us directly from Ibiza, and "dancing is only the beginning...". If you're into pyrotechnics, cirque-du-soleil-esque aerial acts, latex-clad go-go persons, and large snakes, well, then...we'll know where to find you.
SUPER SNAXX AT CIELO
Cielo
18 Little West 12th Street
Cover: $25
Link: http://www.cieloclub.com/events.htm
Veteran DJ’s Gustavo and Rick King will move their monthly party for the “fun, friendly, furry, foxy" from the cozy Westside Tavern to the iconic club Cielo for a post-Pride-dance-on-the-pier party. So just in case nearly 48 hours of non-stop dancing leaves you feeling MORE PROUD THAN EVER, stumble northwards to this haven for the hairy and their not-so-hairy-friends.
Have fun.
Sarah
The New York Nights Nightlife Report for May 2, 2010
Compiled by Gamal Hennessy
…I hunt down the nightlife news so you don’t have to…
New York Nights is preempting its normal nightlife coverage to mark the passing of three people who, each in their own way, impacted the nightlife industry and culture. We will resume our regular coverage next week.
Obituaries
Marc Berkley
(1954-2010)
Marc Berkley was an influential promoter, publisher and gay activist. During his career he created long running events at iconic venues including Saint, Limelight, and the Roxy. He founded HX and Empire magazines, coordinated the 19th and 20th Pride anniversaries and was an outspoken advocate for nightlife during the Giuliani era crackdowns. On April 24, 2010 he died peacefully in his sleep of unknown causes.
Laura Garza(1983-2008?)
Laura Garza was an aspiring dancer who moved from Texas to New York City in 2008. She was last seen leaving Marquee on December 3, 2008 with a man who was later identified as Michael Mele a convicted sex offender. Ms. Garza has been missing since that night, but her remains were identified last week near Scranton Pennsylvania. This new discovery could mean additional charges for Mr. Mele, who is currently serving a one to three year sentence on unrelated charges.
Alejandro Flores(1984-2010)
Alejandro Flores was a manager of Sin Sin and Leopard Lounge in the East Village. He was a constant fixture at the long running Soulgasm events as well as the open mic and open turntable events that Sin Sin was known for. Alejandro also personally helped me during my experience as a DJ for the Scratch Collective. Unconfirmed reports indicate that on April 24th, Mr. Flores fell onto the tracks and was struck and killed by an MTA train.
Have fun.
G
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The New York Nights Club Report for June 27, 2008
…or Why I Can’t Be a Lesbian
By Gamal Hennessy
I’m not a lesbian. I spent time among lesbians, in their bars and at their parties. I submitted an application and studied for the entrance exam. I had good recommendations from respected and accomplished lesbians. I loved women and I was eager to learn more. I didn’t know it at the time, but I even shared the same brain structure with lesbians.
Even with all this going for me…I failed.
Some would assume I was rejected based on anatomy. I actually think I just couldn’t handle the social pressure.
Some would assume I was rejected based on anatomy. I actually think I just couldn’t handle the social pressure.
There are internal pressures in the lesbian community that I refer to as the “small town” effect. It’s like dating someone in your office, or dating someone in a small town where everyone knows everyone else. The only difference here is that you really can’t quit your job or move out of this town.
Let me clarify; there are only so many lesbians and only so many places lesbians go to meet other lesbians. The community isn’t large, even in a city as big as New York. So if you’re a lesbian, almost every girl you meet already has a connection to you, even if you have never heard of them. They’re already friends, enemies, current lovers or ex-lovers of one your friends, enemies or current lovers or ex-lovers. There is no clean slate. You can’t separate her from her social situation. When you meet her, you have to quickly try and figure out where she fits in the fluid and Byzantine arrangement of women.
If you hook up or date, you might start to share friends and enemies, which can be disconcerting if former friends are no longer welcomed or former enemies are now OK. If and when you break up, the whole structure shifts. New barriers go up, former friendships are strained and who is going to show up at what party now becomes a source of stress as everyone tries to adjust to changing circumstances. Multiply this several hundred times and my little brain can’t handle all the permutations.
Before I submitted my application, I took for granted my ability to date someone who had no connection to me. I could project whatever persona would appeal to her without my past indiscretions getting back to her from someone else. When we broke up, my circle of friends was intact. That doesn’t work here.
Now you can see why I’m not a lesbian. I’m just not smart enough.
Keep in mind I’m not even including the external social pressures on lesbians or the normal issues of education, money, religion, family upbringing and social standing that make any long term relationship difficult. It is a wonder that anyone lasts for any amount of time in this system. This situation might be similar with gay men and bisexuals, but I don’t have any first hand observation of this.
I have witnessed ways around the small town effect, although they are not universally effective. She can find someone hundreds of miles away from where she lives. This will remove her from the network and allow for a relationship to grow without the pressure I just described. The only problem here is the pressure of a long distance relationship replaces the small town effect. She can go online, but the online and offline worlds overlap. The small town effect might just invade her laptop so she can’t escape even if she stays home.
There are girls who make this work and are enjoying the lesbian dating scene in spite of the pressure that we put on them and that they put on themselves. I applaud them for being able to do it. I know I’m just not qualified.
Happy Pride Week
G
