DEMOLISHED: Paradise Lost

Demolition was completed on the former Paradise Garage site this month — the first LGBT historic site loss since the launch of the Project in 2015. At least one other site of LGBT significance is actively threatened by the wrecking ball: 69 West 14th Street, where the Gay Liberation Front held important community activities and political organizing in the immediate aftermath of the 1969 Stonewall uprising.

The demolition of the Paradise Garage underscores the urgency of our work: to document sites that shaped LGBT and American culture before they are lost.

Between 1977 and 1987, the Paradise Garage, at 84 King Street, was one of the most important and influential clubs in New York City with a devoted patronage comprised of sexual and ethnic minorities (primarily African-American gay men).

With resident DJ Larry Levan and other DJs as the center of attention, it influenced dance, music, and culture both nationally and internationally as the birthplace of the modern nightclub.