While restaurants have pivoted to outdoor dining, it’s more difficult for bars, which have only been able to rely on to-go cocktails while also enforcing social-distancing rules (the very opposite of what we go to bars for in the first place). The drinks are cheap, and you could also order greasy burgers on site.Ī post shared by Michael Muñoz on at 10:46am PDT It has a low-key, neighborhood appeal, and in recent years, it’s become increasingly popular with a younger clientele-perhaps partly out of kitsch but also for the everyone-is-welcomed vibe. While the landmark watering hole isn’t as well known as Stonewall, located in the Village just around the corner, or as trendy as some of the newer gay bars across the city, it’s been a go-to destination for the LGBTQ+ community. Now Julius’-one of the city’s oldest gay bars-is fighting to stay in business and relying on a GoFundMe campaign as the city forces restaurants and bars to keep indoors spaces off limits. At Time Out, we’ve written about how the city’s remaining lesbian bars are also in danger.
The divey 9th Avenue Saloon in Hell’s Kitchen appears to have shuttered for good. One of the city’s only Black-owned LGBTQ+ bars, Alibi Lounge, needed donors to swoop in at the last minute to stay afloat. Gay bars across New York City have been especially hard hit during the current crisis.
