We love the fact that we can drink until 4am in New York City! It’s part of what makes the city that never sleeps so fun and exciting. Thus, we shuddered to read a report in The New York Sun that in most parts of Manhattan it’s become nearly impossible to open a new nightlife establishment that can serve liquor until 4am! Despite an independent study showing bars make 58% of their money between 1am–4am, the increasing clout of Community Boards has tied liquor licenses to closing times at or before 2am and sometimes as early as midnight! Isn’t it ironic that people often move into these neighborhoods because the nightlife made it such a vibrant place to live, only to turn against it?
We definitely enjoyed our alcohol at Out Magazine’s first Out Lounge party of the season. Touch nightclub lived up to its name—the venue was so packed with gays it was impossible not to touch (or get groped and practically molested in our case). In addition to a special performance by Edie (who’s visiting from Vegas), ever-incredible DJ Corey Craig turned it out with some entertaining tune-age (though we could have done without the four-song Mariah marathon).
Speaking of Corey Craig, the floodgates opened—literally—as he was spinning at Josh Wood’s Star Lounge at The Chelsea Hotel on Friday when some queen decided to “pipe dance” (i.e. hang from exposed pipes along the ceiling) and the pipe burst, showering the crowd. Craig was able to spin “It’s Raining Men” and “Umbrella” (but not “Let’s Get Soaking Wet”) before they had to evacuate. The firemen were sure gorgeous though!
We found ourselves to be the worst dressed people at a celebration of a new line of cufflinks for high-end jeweler Verdura hosted by fashion’s favorite dandy Patrick McDonald. Though the company’s showroom was a little off the beaten path, plenty of fashion types in their finest outfits showed up, like Kenny Kenny, former America’s Next Top Model judge Nolé Marin and David and Phillipe Blond (in the fiercest shoes ever). We even got a sexy salesman to give us a course on the history of the brand, which was initially funded by another notorious dandy, Cole Porter. If only we could’ve afforded a pair of the baubles, we’d be ready for the next upper-class event!
Yeah, we had some drama with Micky Friedmann a few weeks ago, but we are here to report that it is officially all over and we are BFF! He turned out a fantastic set on Friday night at Splash (including a great remix of Jimmy James’ “Fashionista” that we hate ourselves for loving). Anyway, Micky is as sweet as could be and joked about the offending table that caused us both so much pain. You’ll have to wait to see him until Memorial Day Weekend, when he returns to Splash, but with music and a body like his, you’ll definitely want to see him.
There were plenty of superheroes around for the New York Comic Con this weekend. Sunday, Ivan Velez organized a panel of gay men and lesbians working in comics today like José Villarrubia, Phil Jiminez, Jennifer Camper, Ariel Schrag, Abby Denson, Joan Hilty, Robert Walker and our new comics crush, Stephen Sadowski. Tim Fish was also on the panel, and his booth on the Con floor was the unofficial hangout for the gay boys in the crowd. We don’t know if he’s gay, but while we were there we spotted a ripped hunk painted green and in purple pants giving us some fierce Incredible Hulk realness. He could come to our rescue any day.
 Speaking of saving the day, the organizers of the Skin Tight USA spandex and superhero party at the Stonewall Inn really came through. When our bag tipped over in the changing room (where we were morphing into Aquaman) and sent our keys and cell phone flying, not only did they rescue the goods, but they tracked us down to make sure we got our phone back and got home safe. The packed crowd full of geeky gay boys (we mean that in a good way!) partying it up for Comic Con weekend was also very friendly and there were plenty of hot boys decked out as all sorts of super studs, including one yummy morsel in a fantastic Fantastic Four costume.
While the mainstream media fawned obnoxiously over The Pope, the Rapture Café took on a different approach in (dis)honor of his New York visit with its Pope Bash! party. For the sacrilegious entertainment, La John Joseph did an impassioned monologue as the Virgin Mary, while Dirty Martini lip-synched to “Like a Virgin” before screaming and giving mock birth to a raw chicken. She then whipped her top off to reveal crucifix pasties and proceeded to “breast feed” the Baby Jesus stand-in. Meanwhile, the Catholic schoolgirl go-go dancer wasn’t nearly as eye-catching as the robed Moses type who eventually dropped his robes to dance stark naked. Amen to that!
Being a glorious Friday afternoon we could think of nothing nicer than ending our day on the beautiful tri-level back porch of The Ritz. Getting there just before happy hour ended at 8pm, we sat down with our cool drinks and took in the last rays of sun with a pretty-boy crowd of post-work professionals and fashionable hotties who were working the eagerly anticipated summer looks.
Later that night, we worked our way through the crowded upstairs of Gym Bar to the opening of the gorgeous new basement bar The Lockeroom complete with lockers, benches and video monitors—not to mention a darker, sexier feel (don’t be surprised if things ever get a little naughty down there). Our night sure did get sweaty with a three-hour open bar that left us with glazed eyes and a stumble in our step—although the Patrón shots were the icing on the cake). It’s safe to say you don’t need to be a jock to get a workout (if you know what we mean) in this great and much-needed new gay space.
Another fab new space is 145 Street’s El Morocco, which launched its new gay night, Escandalo Nights last Sunday. The “Africa” theme worked perfectly with the grand, plush club full of more zebra-and leopard-print cloth than all of Chris March’s wardrobe This venue is a recreation of the original Latin dance club El Morocco on 54th St and owned by John Steele who formerly owned Tropicana and El Flamingo. The super-packed party featured go-go boys and drag queens in well-choreographed numbers—often wearing little more than loincloths. It was wild and yes, we stayed until 4am… N
|
