Gay-Owned Businesses
overview
This curated collection highlights sites associated with (mostly former) businesses run by LGBT people in New York City.
LGBT entrepreneurs created welcoming spaces for their communities by opening bars, clubs, restaurants, bathhouses, self-defense centers, and bookshops.
Sites such as Isaia NYC Fashion House, F.W.I.L. Lundy Brothers Restaurant, and the Modulightor Building housed businesses that were owned and operated by gay people, but did not necessarily cater specifically to LGBT clientele.
Historic Sites in Gay-Owned Businesses
A portion of the ground floor and part of the basement of this former market building in the Meatpacking District was the home of Bar Room 432 from 1990 to... Learn More
From 1939 to 1942, the internationally popular African American cabaret singer Jimmie Daniels owned and operated his eponymous Harlem supper club on the ground floor of this building (after he... Learn More
Open from 1980 to early 1983, La Papaya was a lesbian-owned vegetarian restaurant and the only feminist restaurant in New York City at this time. La Papaya featured Brooklyn’s sole... Learn More
Labyris, where the “The Future is Female” slogan was coined, was the first feminist bookstore in New York City. Owned and operated by lesbians from 1972 to 1977, this bookstore... Learn More
Brooklyn Women’s Martial Arts (BWMA), renamed the Center for Anti-Violence Education in 1990, was founded in 1974 to teach self-defense skills and karate to women and girls (including lesbians and... Learn More
From the early 1990s until its closure at the end of 2018, the Bum Bum Bar (pronounced “boom boom”) catered to a predominately Latina lesbian clientele in Queens. Located under... Learn More
Between 1968 and 1976, the Continental Baths operated out of the basement space of the then-dilapidated Ansonia Hotel. The legendary Baths combined sex, socializing, and entertainment that especially flourished during... Learn More
Crazy Nanny’s was a lesbian bar that drew a racially diverse crowd and was located on the ground and second floors of this building from 1991 to 2004. The large... Learn More
Currently occupied by Henrietta Hudson, one of the city’s three remaining lesbian bars, this space was formerly known as Cubby Hole, from 1983 to 1990. Activist and performer Stormé DeLarverie... Learn More
After opening DT’s Fat Cat here in 1987, bar owner Tanya Saunders renamed it Cubbyhole in 1994 and envisioned it as an inclusive “neighborhood fusion bar.” Cubbyhole, which still operates... Learn More
Djuna Books was a feminist bookstore in Greenwich Village, which operated from a storefront on the West 10th Street side of this rowhouse from 1977 to 1982. The store, part... Learn More
Eve Adams, the name adopted by a Polish-Jewish lesbian émigré, operated a popular gay and lesbian tearoom in this rowhouse near Washington Square in Greenwich Village, from 1924 to 1926.... Learn More
One of the most beloved and famous restaurants in New York City from the 1930s to the 1970s, this mammoth Spanish Colonial Revival restaurant building was owned and operated by... Learn More
Friend’s Tavern (or Friend’s) in Jackson Heights is known as the oldest active gay bar in Queens and has been owned since 1989 by Eddie Valentin and Casimiro Villa, business... Learn More
In 1996, Meow Mix opened as a sex-positive lesbian club known for its live music, though it is best remembered for its appearance in the 1997 film Chasing Amy. It was... Learn More
The Modulightor Building, built between 1989 and 1992, was designed by iconic modernist Paul Rudolph, who incorporated new construction into the pre-existing four-story structure; two additional stories were added to... Learn More
Mother Courage was the first feminist restaurant in the United States. Owned and operated by Dolores Alexander and Jill Ward from 1972 to 1977, this restaurant primarily attracted lesbian and... Learn More
Gay rights activist Craig Rodwell established the East Coast’s first gay and lesbian bookstore (and the first one in the nation to operate long term), named in memory of Oscar... Learn More
In 1973, Craig Rodwell moved his Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, the first gay and lesbian bookstore on the East Coast (and the first of its kind in the nation to... Learn More
In 1962, openly gay African-American entrepreneur Harold “Mackie” Harris purchased the Starlite Lounge and established it as an LGBT-inclusive bar. Before being forced to close in 2010 after the building... Learn More
In 1977, Studio 54 opened and became one of the world’s most famous discos with a fusion of gay, bisexual, and straight patrons. Owners Steven Rubell and Ian Schrager modeled... Learn More
Referred to as the “Vatican of Disco,” The Saint was a gay, members-only club located in the East Village that operated between September 1980 and May 1988. With its huge... Learn More
Open from 1975 to 1987, Womanbooks was the second feminist bookstore in New York City. It sold books written, published, and printed by women, many of which could not be... Learn More
Open from 1974 to 1978 in Greenwich Village, the Women’s Coffeehouse was a popular and important social gathering and activist space for New York-based lesbians. This lesbian-owned coffeehouse held live... Learn More
The New St. Marks Baths was one of the largest and most renowned bathhouses in New York City from 1979 to 1985. Its owner, Bruce Mailman, became a central figure... Learn More
In 1986, Black fashion designer Isaia, known for his use of Lycra to create body-conscious styles for women, moved his clothing label to a loft in this building just as... Learn More
Opened in 1950, Bo Bo Restaurant was the first and most well-known of numerous New York City restaurants established by Esther Eng, an openly lesbian Chinese American former film director... Learn More
