Gay bars near hell 39

Monica Mugler poses for the camera outside Club Edelweiss. Photo: Linda Simpson via Prestel Publishing It consequently closed and reopened several times throughout the decade, bouncing around various addresses, though its longest run was at 11th Avenue between W43rd and W44th Streets — adjoining the Market Diner.

Edelweiss was owned and operated by Constantine Eliopoulos, who was eventually charged for promoting and permitting prostitution at the venue. I think if they had recognized that there were a lot of us who were just in the spectrum of trans, instead of playing to the prostitution, there would still be a Club Edelweiss today.

Midtown Enforcement, responsible for cleaning up Times Square, often raided the club and arrested many of its patrons. In one raid, there were 18 busts for drug-dealing and 25 for prostitution. Club Edelweiss adjoined the Market Diner on 11th Avenue. This particular bust led to the club being padlocked for a year and its demise shortly thereafter.

All the drug arrests were stings; the sex was agreed to; and if lap-dancing is all they saw, they might as well raid fraternity houses. Learn more and buy the book here…. Marc Zinaman is a writer and queer historian based in New York City.

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I grew up not knowing that James Baldwin once lived down my block or that the building I walked by each day once housed the gay bathhouse where Bette Midler got her start," Marc said. The downfall of Edelweiss came much later when it became a huge problem for the neighborhood.

No one cared about consenting adults having sex. It was the guns, drug dealers and other criminals who sought refuge in an establishment that shunned attention. Past president Chuck Spence, myself and other block associations many leaders were gay were adamant about closing it down.

Chuck Spence … you mean Mr. He was a master at making things up and pandering to the police. That place was packed during Fleet Week. It is a visual I will never forget. So many crisp white uniforms intertwined in the arms of the girls and guys. One block from the water, so convenient for the servicemen. NYC was fun then. My name is John Arroyo.

I was the resident DJ at Edleweiss for close to 5 years before they closed down Thursday thru Sunday. All of course staying under the radar and full filling their dark fetishes. In a way Edleweiss was a place where anyone can visit and feel free. Very focused. He was all about his business.