18thand8th's Profile

This place works well as the host hotel One Mighty Weekend--the circuit side of Gay Disney. It has two good pools and a hot tub surrounded by the hotel towers and a small lake. It's a great venue for the pool parties. The hotel has been upgraded a few notches since it switched from the Wyndham Palace to an LXR hotel a few years ago. It's a mainstream hotel the rest of the year, but far from mainstream during Gay Disney!

Many longtime New Yorker's can't believe that this once free bridge-and-tunnel "dance bar" favorite now often charges the kind of hefty cover that one expects to pay at a full-fledged club. Still, Splash (aka SPNY) still manages to pack them in. I do have to credit them with keeping the space fresh with massive renovations every few years. The most recent round brought urinals that face a translucent wall overlooking the downstairs bar...quite naughty!

While this isn't my scene, this bar certainly does the leather/levis scene right...and isn't too unfriendly to out-of-costume visitors. Above 2 floors of dark, maze-like bar, the roofdeck offers about the best outdoor space to be found in any NYC gay bar. Be slighltly cautious in the bathrooms...as you encounter unwanted (or perhaps wanted exposure to others' fetishes.

When I first visited on a Summer Friday night it was DEAD, but this North-Chelsea lounge has really taken off. The former owners of Hell (and the recently closed Big Cup) have transported some of the same velvet-loungy feel from their former Meat Packing District establishment to the new neighborhood. It's not quite as dark--or small as Hell was.

Bars and clubs come and go, but the Roxy keeps going and going... Without the overbearing security found at other recent clubs, the shirtless club crowd can still enjoy uninhibitted dancefloor activity. While the Roxy still packs a good crowd into its giant former-roller-rink dance floor, the club has lost some of its energy from its peak in the late nineties. The main dance floor, the small upstairs eightees room, and lots of side nooks and crannies provide plenty of room to get lost when you want to!

This onetime staple of Chelsea can still occassionally be fun, but is pretty much past its prime. As you stand around its famous circular bar, even when it is packed, you'll quickly notice the same people circling around cruising you. The bartenders are still hot.

I've got to give credit to the owners of Gym for opening a new bar in the heart of Chelsea while others have faded and for taking a chance on a sports theme in a less-than-butch market. So far, it seems to be working. As expected, the crowd is somewhat more masculine than most Chelsea bars...but is certainly no Eagle. The front patio offers a chance to mingle with passer-by's on 8th Ave.

Since its debut, Therapy rapidly become the place to see and be seen in Hell's Kitchen and helped solidify the neighborhood's status as the new gay ghetto. The crowd is well-dressed and generally well-behaved, for better or worse. While the bar tries a bit too hard to be fabulous, it is an attractive space and its 2 floors and deep layout offer lots of places to wander and meet people. The brick walls really amplify the sound, so if you don't like noisy places, avoid the crowded times.

Smaller and quieter than both Therapy and Barrage, this comfortable Hell's Kitchen neighborhood bar is better for meeting up with your friends than meeting new ones.

While not a hotbead of excitement, Barrage is a relaxing neighborhood place to catch a drink, particularly if you're not in the mood for the nearby larger and more crowded Therapy. The red walls with vertical strings of oversized fake pearls are either fun/campy or just tacky, probably depending on how many drinks you've had.