NIGHTLIFE
NYC Queer Bars, COVID-Beleagured, Get Creative
Drinks-to-go, Zoom entertainment, GoFundMe efforts among the live-saving efforts
BY MATT TRACY
Two months after the
drinks suddenly stopped
fl owing at queer watering
holes across New
York City, owners of those bars are
blunt about the impact of coronavirus
on their establishments.
“COVID-19 has shattered people’s
dreams,” said Alexi Minko,
the owner of the four-year-old
Harlem gay bar Alibi Lounge. Like
many other businesses, Minko
had to lay off staff members when
the city shut down in mid-March.
“We’re broke. We still have to pay
for insurance, we still have to pay
for rent, electricity, and phone.”
The hardships are especially
frustrating realities for bars like
Alibi, which is a rare social space
for queer people of color in the city’s
white-dominated bar scene, and
Henrietta Hudson, a long-running
lesbian bar in the West Village that
serves as a much-needed nightlife
option in a city where so many LGBTQ
venues cater to gay men.
“We are one of maybe two lesbian
bars in New York, so I think we
have to stay open,” said Henrietta
Hudson’s owner, Lisa Cannistraci,
who directed her staff to apply for
unemployment when she saw the
“writing on the wall” in March.
“But I cannot pay any rent while
we are closed because I have no
revenue.”
Neither of those bars have been
able to secure government relief,
leaving them to fend for themselves
despite a lack of income.
It remains unclear when New
York City restaurants and bars will
be allowed to open again, and it is
even more uncertain when they
will be able to operate without restrictions
on capacity. Cannistraci
said restrictive operations would
not yield enough revenue anyway,
so she plans to wait “until I can
open 100 percent.”
Until then, those bars and other
queer establishments are getting
innovative. Alibi Lounge is offering
a “social distancing happy hour”
featuring slushies and cocktailsto
go from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m., an
Despite hardships, Henrietta Hudson’s owner, Lisa Cannistraci, is confi dent her bar will open again after
the pandemic.
Alibi Lounge, a Black-owned Harlem gay bar, is teetering on the brink during the coronavirus era.
idea that is also being employed by
other venues like The Ritz., a gay
bar and lounge in Hell’s Kitchen.
The Ritz launched a social media
campaign informing folks that the
establishment is selling drinksto
go from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m on
select days and is including fun
giveaways with every drink. The
bar handed out T-shirts with every
large cocktail on May 13 and
is planning to give away a “picnic
style swag bag” on May 16.
While Henrietta Hudson is
avoiding the drinks-to-go idea,
Cannistraci said the bar is hosting
live comedy events on Zoom and
HENRIETTA HUDSON/ MOLLY ADAMS
PHOTO FACEBOOK/ ALIBI LOUNGE
featuring virtual DJs from Thursday
through Sunday. In the near
future, Cannistraci is planning to
open an online retail shop where
she intends to sell merchandise
like hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts,
coffee mugs, and maybe even cigarette
lighters and dog clothing.
Meanwhile, Boxers, a gay sports
bar with three different outposts
sprinkled across Manhattan, is
stepping up to offer a food pantry
for those in need on May 16. Folks
can stop by their Washington
Heights location at 3820 Broadway
and 159th Street anytime from 1
p.m. until 5 p.m. on that day to
pick up a bag of groceries.
Many bars, including Henrietta
Hudson and Alibi Lounge,
have also launched GoFundMe
campaigns in attempts to at least
draw some cash from supporters.
Alibi Lounge has raised just $615
of its $6,000 goal, while Henrietta
Hudson has leaned on its dedicated
base of customers dating back
three decades to bring in $24,573
of its $40,000 target thus far.
GoFundMe pages are also active
for other queer spots, including
Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Bar,
which has yielded north of $9,000
in a fundraiser for its staff members.
Alibi Lounge, which was
launched in 2016 when Minko
sought to fi ll the void of gay bars
and Black-owned spaces in Harlem,
entered the coronavirus pandemic
having already endured tumultuous
times as of late. The bar
was hit multiple times by a vandal
who torched Rainbow Flags at the
bar before and after the huge Pride
Month celebration last year as the
city celebrated Stonewall 50 and
hosted WorldPride. After the fi rst
attack, months passed before authorities
fi nally nabbed the suspect.
When asked how much longer
the bar, located at 2376 Clayton
Powell Jr. Boulevard near West
139th Street, can tolerate the crisis
and survive, Minko offered a
bleak prognosis.
“Not much longer,” he said. “We
are at a crossroads pretty much.
We are literally counting the days,
meaning that if in a number of
days things don’t somehow come
back, we might not be able to survive.
And those days we are counting
are not that many.”
Things are looking a little less
dire for Cannistraci, who, despite
fi nancial woes and an uncertain
future, is maintaining optimism
and remains hopeful that the bar’s
popularity will help it rebound
when this is all over.
“It’s not in my character to just
give up,” she said “Nobody wants
us to close. We will reopen you can
quote me.”
May 21 - June 05, 2 18 020 | GayCityNews.com
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