Now it’s surrounded by luxury condos and the wealthy people who live there. This multi-floored leather bar has seen its neighborhood transform over the past two years. It also has food, including an unexpectedly delicious burger and fries. It’s had a rebirth of energy, in no small part due to Mattachine - a once-a-month dorky, fun, free-spirited dance bash DJed by John Cameron Mitchell, Angela DiCarlo, and Amber Martin on every third Thursday of the month. This spring, the New York State Board for Historic Preservation nominated Julius to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service, in part because of a 1966 civil-disobedience action by the Mattachine Society - a “sip in” by four gay men who declared they were gay and demanded a drink. It also has one of the best happy hours in town (serving mini-quiches, pigs in a blanket, and some kind of mystery tuna spread on Ritz crackers.) The dance floor downstairs is a hidden gem, including Sunday’s Disco Classic Tea Dance with Lady Bunny, Johnny Dynell’s Manster, and Sabor Latino.Ĭovered with photos and vibrating with history, this bar - which opened in 1864 - is a living, breathing gay museum. Best of all, older men feel comfortable here, because the bar crosses generations and color lines. This is where you can find tourists and PATH train commuters mingling with theater queens who belt out songs at the upstairs piano bar. This fabulously decorated flatiron-shaped bar brings in a wonderfully diverse clientele. The great Scott Ewalt DJs on Thursdays, and CVNT on Tuesday nights brings in a younger crowd. Saturdays is Wack, with DJs Kindbud and Aaron Cobbett. Rough-edged, covered in band stickers, and carved with little weird nooks and dark corners, this place is like a filthy, seductive, alluring alleyway.
The Cock moved into the former Lit Lounge (where straight people used to make out like gays), so the sexy atmosphere is already built into the walls.
This unashamedly punky, vital East Village gay bar relocated last summer, and the new address is a vast improvement. It also has an eclectic and dynamic roster of DJs and themed nights, including the long-running Double Headed Disco (last Saturday of the month), the ritualistic Witch Camp, and a night for ginger enthusiasts, Fire in the Hole. This is also where the alternative Joe’s Pub cabaret and comedy set come for postshow drinks, so bring your friend from Seattle or Berlin here first if they want to see the performance scene flirt and mingle without pretension. The video screen blinks weird porn and video art, Bushwick genderqueers flirt with Chelsea gallerists, and the long, deep space has plenty of alcoves and seating if you’re seeking a bit of quiet. This is where artsy gay men, women, and anyone who doesn’t care for labels converge (depending on the night - it’s still a man-based bar) to listen to DJs who play music that doesn’t sound like Rihanna choking on a Red Bull. Part of the East Village gay-bar renaissance of the ’90s and ’00s, Nowhere has long been regarded as the less populated, forgotten sister to other joints like Eastern Bloc or the Cock - but the venerable basement bar has evolved to become the central watering hole of NYC’s queer art, music, and performance scene.