SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
SPONSORED BY
Eduardo “Eddie” Valentin
and Casimiro Villa
Casimiro Villa and Eddie Valentin are
the co-owners of Friends Tavern, an
LGBTQ Latin bar in Jackson Heights
that has operated since 1989.
Casimiro and Eddie started Friend’s Tavern as
a neighborhood bar, but the establishment’s
success translated into an expanded clientele
that included individuals from across the city
and around the world — including folks forced
to flee persecution in their home countries. With
a friendly staff and a vibrant atmosphere, the
bar has become a mainstay in the community.
Casimiro and Eddie each carved out their
own respective paths leading to their ownership
of the bar. Casimiro is a Colombian immigrant
who moved to New York in 1968, first starting
as a laborer in manufacturing plants while
simultaneously taking classes to learn English. He
went on to work at Stouffer’s restaurant on Fifth
Avenue before spending 15 years working at
Pan-American Airways. Prior to the emergence
of cell phones, he opened his first business,
Tele-Express, to help New Yorkers call and send
money to their families in Latin America.
In the meantime, Casimiro saved enough
money to fulfill a dream of starting a gayowned
bar with bilingual staff, and he put
an emphasis on cleanliness after he noticed
many other LGBTQ bars — particularly those
that were not owned by members of the
queer community — were not appropriately
maintained.
A year and a half after he founded the bar,
Casimiro met Eddie, sparking a new chapter
in the bar’s history and paving the way for the
partnership that remains strong today. Eddie
was born in Williamsburg to Puerto Rican parents
who purchased a home in Ridgewood, Queens,
where they raised him and his five siblings. Eddie
became as a tutor and worked jobs in financial
planning and at the United Nations.
Casimiro and Eddie set out to make the
bar as friendly as possible — hence the name
Friend’s Tavern — and to carry out that mission
they hired extra staff to keep the establishment
in top condition for customers.
The bar also has also played an important
role in spreading public service messages in
Friend’s Tavern
the community. The team at Friend’s Tavern
has worked with the New York City Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene to push for HIV
testing and counseling and to promote the HIV
prevention drug known as PrEP. The bar also
donates costumes to kids in the neighborhood
on Halloween, helps sponsor the LGBTQ prom in
Queens, and supports toy drives for orphanages.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Friend’s
Tavern played host to the Love Wins Food Pantry.
The bar has been a source of consistency
in an ever-changing city landscape: The only
times Friend’s Tavern closed its doors were
for renovations in 2013 and for three months
during the coronavirus pandemic when they
had no choice but to shut down.
Now Friend’s Tavern is entering a new
phase. With support from Steve Garibell of TD
Bank, Tom Grech of the Queens Chamber of
Commerce, and Assemblymember Catalina
Cruz of Queens, Casimiro and Eddie are
purchasing the building that houses their bar.
6 2021 Impact Awards | www.gaycitynews.com
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