The Big Apple. The city that never sleeps. The financial, musical, shopping and art capital of the world.....New York City must be one of most dynamic cities in the world. It's on 24/7 and you will be unable to see, live and enjoy everything is just a couple of days. Just dive in for a few days and visit all the landmark icons, shop around, go to a theatre and enjoy the NYC nightlife.
Nightlife and gay neighbourhoods
Gay life is everywhere in New York City. Nightlife is vivid and overwhelming. You can choose from endless variations on gay bars and clubs: from muscle mary clubs to cabaret piano bars, local intimate bars to trendy gay lounges. Most bars are opened from 16h till 4h.
On Manhattan, the most interesting part of NYC for (gay) tourists, the gay scene is concentrated in a couple of neighbourhoods.
In Greenwhich Village lays the origin of gay pride, where the Stonewall riots in Christopher Street awakened gay emancipation. Hence the Christopher Street Days throughout the world. Many gay bars, restaurants and clubs are located here.
A bit more fancy is neighbouring Chelsea in Lower Manhattan west of Park Avenue. Chelsea offers a wide selection of trendy bars, clubs and restaurants which are concentrated around Eighth Avenue.
The East Village is a bit more of the bohemian version of the West Village.
Midtown NYC can be well spend for the bars between the Empire State Building and the MoMa on Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Avenue.
Manhattan what to do and see ?
New York is full of landmark icons we know from the movies and television. Of course you want to see the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island.
Or go up on the Empire State Building, since 9/11 again the highest building in town. Speaking of, Ground Zero is still an impressive visit. Wall Street, the financial epicentre of the world, is on walking distance. Or take a stroll through Central Park, the green lung of NYC.
Of course you want to see a show on Broadway. It is so gay to see the biggest stars performing, either in a play or in a typical Broadway musical like Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Mamma Mia or one of the other 45 musicals or 30 plays!
On Broadway.com you can order online tickets for most of the shows. (Please do so, because you support Nighttours too). And after the show, you pop into one of the gay bars in Chelsea, a few blocks west of Broadway and Time Square.
Art
New York City has some of the biggest and best museums in the world. Most famous is the Museum of Modern Art, also know as MoMa. Here you will find one of the most impressive collections of contemporary art in the world.
Also famous, and not only for its design by Frank Lloyd Wright, is the Guggenheim Museum, near Central Park.
Gay map NYC / Manhattan
Check out our New York City interactive gay map with all the main gay bars, clubs, saunas and parties.
Gay (friendly) bars, pubs and cafes · add new bars
Here are some bars and cafes, please let us know when you know more places.
9th Ave. Bistro - Pacha NYC 618 West 46th Street Nice cozy bar in the middle of the trendy Hell's Kitch 9th Avenue strip. With live entertainment and a pool room in the back.
Bamboo 52 344 West 52nd St. New sushi restaurant and lounge bar. The big back yard and bamboo garden plus daily extended happy hour provide a nice atmosphere for theatre-goers and after workers.
Barrage 401 West 47th street Local bar and a great place to go if you actually want to meet people.
A mixed crowd of neighborhood residents, actors and dancers from the nearby theaters, and often glamorous Chelsea boys.
mon-thu 17:00–02:00, fri-sat 17:00–04:00, sun 17:00–02:00
Boiler Room 86 East 4th Street Big gay bar with a mixed crowd. Many college boys in the weekends. Boiler Room has a jukebox, a pool table and a pinball machine, Daily happy hours.
Boots & Saddles - Boots & Saddle 76 Christopher Street A kitschy bar for wannabe coybows, complete with swinging wooden saloon doors.
Like most places on Christopher Street, the audience is a little older.
Boxers NYC 37 West 20th Street NYC's Gay Sports Bar. With two levels, pool tables, brick oven pizza, beer on tap, full bar, and plasma screens, after work or after the game, it’s the place for sports leagues and fans to meet.
Candle Bar 309 Amsterdam Avenue Candle Bar is one of the few gay bars in this area but a popular place.
Casual and without attitude, it attracts an eclectic crowd which ranges from blue and white collar to artistic.
Cubbyhole 281 W 12th Street Charming little hole, mostly a cozy hang-out for gay girls and their gay guy pals, is lined from floor to ceiling with colorful mobiles in the shape of birds, dolphins, helicopters, and just about anything else you can think of.
g Lounge 225 West 19th Street Founded in 1997, this was Chelseas first cocktail bar. Spacy with a large bar in middle, and some comfortable relax areas behind the bar.
HK Lounge 405 W 39th ST Bar / club belonging to Hell's Kitchen restaurant at 9th Av. With roof terrace, and big boys behind the bar, this is a popular hang out for Midtown boys.
Pieces Bar 8 Christopher Street Pieces Bar features special events, Karaoke sing-a-longs, costume contests, pool tournaments, body contests, fund raising events, the almost world famous annual event "the 12 Drags of Christmas" and many more.
mon 14:00–02:00, tue-sat 14:00–04:00, sun 14:00–02:00
The Duplex 61 Christopher Street Show bar with Broadway tunes. It boasts a piano bar with open mic every night of the week, an upstairs bar and an intimate off-Broadway cabaret theatre.
The Ritz Bar & Lounge 369 W 46th St. Bar and small dance club in Hell's Kitchen, with sailor decored theme downstairs with a rather young and mixd crowd dancing on tunes from house to hip hop, and a more relaxed atmosphere at the bar on the second floor.
The Stonewall Inn 53 Christopher Street Legendary gay venue in the Village.
It was the location of the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969, in which hundreds of gays, lesbians and transgender people and their supporters for the first time finally fought back against the unwarranted and often violent police raids.
The Townhouse Bar 206 East 58TH Street New York's premier gay gentleman's club and a landmark bar in the NYC scene.
Beyond the main bar is a club room featuring a piano player banging out the show tunes, as well as a quieter downstairs lounge.
Ty's Bar 114 Christopher Street Ty's Bar is a centrally located in the heart of the West Village. This gay bar attracts an eclectic crowd and offers a variety of drink specials.
Vlada Lounge 331 West 51st Street New stylish gay lounge on two floors.
The owners hope to evoke "the European artistic aura of Odeon in the 70s, where artists, actors, fashionistas, models and freaks alike could all gather and be comfortable just being themselves.
Here are some clubs and parties, please let us know when you know more places.
Alegria - Various locationsOne of the most famous circuit parties in NYC. According to visitors the crowd is still amazing but Alegria has been losing his full glory.
Blowoff - Highline Ballroom 431 West 16th Street Monthly gay party on various locations (check their website). Blowoff draws a furrier slightly older muscle crowd.
Hiro Ballroom 371 West 16th Street Packed and energetic Sunday evening gayparty in an Asian-style area located in the base of the Maritime Hotel at the border between Chelsea and the Meatpacking District.
HK Lounge 405 W 39th ST Bar / club belonging to Hell's Kitchen restaurant at 9th Av. With roof terrace, and big boys behind the bar, this is a popular hang out for Midtown boys.
Krash - Rebel 251 W 30th St. Weekly Friday night dance party at 4 leveled Chelsea club Rebel. The party - originally hosted in Queens - offers something for everyone: from urban to house, rom NY drags to gogo-dancers.
Loveball - Nokia Theatre Times Square 1515 Broadway Times Square Gay Pride Weekend opening party at the Nokia Theatre Times Square. Music by: Alyson Calagna and Chris Cox.
PRIDE NYC: WORK! TRIBAL HOUSE BOAT CRUISE on the H - Circle Line Cruise Pier 83, 42nd Street Friday, June 24
PRIDE FRIDAY!!!
TRIBAL DEEJAYS:
ALEX ACOSTA (MEXICO)
EDDIE MARTINEZ (NYC)
WORK! presents a unique different New York Pride experience!
A cruise around NYC on the Hudson River from 9pm-midnite with the pumping tribal sounds of Mexican DJ sensation Alex Acosta and New York's own Eddie Martinez.
Sand Blast Weekend - Various locationsCircuit beach festival at Ashbury Park, New Jersey (south of New York).
Getting to Asbury Park is easy by train, car or bus and takes from 1 to 2 hours from NYC and Philly.
Sea Tea - Pier 40 West Side Highway / Houston Street New Yorks only sailing Sunday tea dance. The Queen Of Hearts sails from New York's historic Pier #40 in the West Village every Sunday during the Summer.
The Monster 80 Grove Street Dance club and piano bar. Upstairs offers the intimacy of a piano bar, downstairs, you'll find Drag Shows starring such notables as Laritza DuMont and Jesse Volt plus the beats of House DJ Warren Gluck, Tony Cruz and special guest DJ's.
The Ritz Bar & Lounge 369 W 46th St. Bar and small dance club in Hell's Kitchen, with sailor decored theme downstairs with a rather young and mixd crowd dancing on tunes from house to hip hop, and a more relaxed atmosphere at the bar on the second floor.
Verve - Roomservice 35 East 21st Street PRESIDENT'S DAY WEEKEND SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH @ 11AM-11PM
EDDIE ELIAS PRESENTS
"VERVE"
MUSIC BY: EDDIE ELIAS
FEATURING GUEST: CHRIS STAROPOLI AKA (THAT KID CHRIS)
Work - Roseland Ballroom 239 West 52nd Street Monthly gay Saturday night: Grammy Award Winner and famed resident Peter Rauhofer (former Roxy resident) and his boiz found a new home at Discotheque.
Grab Ass - Paddles 250 West 26th Street Grab Ass- private sex parties. Ages 25 to 55 and all body types, extremely friendly group with a bit of something for everyone every week.
The Eagle 554 West 28th Street Two floors full of leather and jeans guys, cruising (some action in the bathrooms on the 2nd floor), drinking or playing pool.
The Tool Box - Tool Box 1742 Second Avenue Cruise and video bar with sexy videos, sports and music video screens. Discover the space for cruising (named the Tea Room), or just drink at the bar and chill out at the lounge within which to chill out.
Fire IslandFire Island is a thin 32 mile long sand bar south of Long Island (separating the Great South Bay from the Atlantic Ocean) and only one hour or 50 miles east of New York City with pristine ocean shores.
Folsom Street East West 28th Street between 10th & 11th Avenue Folsom Street East is New York’s premiere s/m-leather-fetish themed street festival and the largest outdoor event of its kind east of the Mississippi.
NY AIDS Walk - Central ParkSince 1986, AIDS Walk New York has raised more than $105 million for HIV programs and services in the tri-state area, and has grown into the largest AIDS fundraising event in the world.