Gaiety - NYC - 10 year anniversary of closing

[baltimore observer]

Today is the 10th anniversary of the date that the Gaiety closed - 03/18/2005. I expected to see a discussion in this forum!

[Daverwr]

Brings a tear to my eye.

[BgMstr4u]

Thanks for starting the discussion. I didn't have it marked on my calendar, but now that you remind me, a flood of memories are pouring over me. Glorious, delirious joy at the first group finale I saw, many years before. I thought I was in heaven! So many beautiful guys. So many happy, happy times. I am forever grateful to Denise for her managerial balancing act over so many years. I tried many times to work out a business model that put her in the black and just could not ever make the numbers come out in her favor. Perhaps it is best not to know how she managed it. But she did and it was magnificent! Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, Denise, THANK YOU!!!

[Jake]

I only got to go once... but it was long before my being a strip club customer days. I was still in my 20s. It was right around 2000 when my first boyfriend and I went to NYC. We saw an ad in one of the gay rags about "Male Burlesque." I was so green I didn't even know what that meant. My boyfriend who was about 20 at the time was more aware and filled me in. We thought it'd be funny to watch so we made our way into Times Square and tracked it down. It was in the early evening I think so the place was quite empty as I remember. We were sketched out beyond words. The customers creeped us out. The performers seemed old and burned out. But one dancer caught both of our attention... young guy, probably just a few years older than us. Defined lean body. I only remember him wearing an outfit that was bright and baggy like was out of a 90s pop music video. The bf and I giggled and teehee'd and decided we'd tip him after seeing other customers do it. About 20 mins later an employee of the club tapped my boyfriend on the shoulder. The music was loud or the employee whispered because I remember I couldn't hear what was said. But when he left my bf's facial expression was priceless. He was pale white. He showed me a piece of paper folded up with a hotel room number on it. It was from the dancer we tipped. We were so scared we ran out of there as fast as our feet could take us.

 

15 years later, now I wonder if it was the dancer trying to get business.

[crazy4u]

It was a fun time. Some of the most gorgeous guys were presented on stage.Wild private shows behind the stage, when that was allowed, later in the neighboring hotels! I remember Austin, who committed suicide, the infamous Kirk, Jaguar, who was the last on stage, before it closed and many more. Too bad nothing like the Gaiety has come back. Will anything like it ever appear ??

[+ azdr0710]

I never got to go there, but whenever a Gaiety thread comes up here or over at MSS, so many people recount fond memories and treat the place like it was holy....really nice to hear there was a place so revered....

[Despardo]

I misspent my youth there and enjoyed every minute of it. Was devastated when it closed. After I left NYC in 1990 after 20 years and headed west, I always made a point of stopping by the Gaiety when visiting the East Coast. One day I noticed an article in the Times on line about the closing of the last Howard Johnson's restaurant in NYC--seems the building had been sold. I didn't realize until my next trip back east that when the HoJo's went, the Gaiety went with it (oddly, the Times had not mentioned it in the article.) I was devastated! My other favorite low brow hang out in NY closed with the Disneyfication of Times Square (Thanks Rudi!) I always felt safe at the Gaiety (didn't get into too much trouble) and for a fixed outlay of cash, I had entertainment for the evening. Back in those days, I used to drop acid and park myself at the Gaiety and/or Show World for the night. Never had a bad experience doing that. Sex and drugs--a happy combination. I have not explored the more recent male strip venues in NYC, since I have not been back for a while. Adonis Lounge looks intriguing, but the reviews are generally not great, plus it looks expensive--I get the impression one could drop quite a wad of cash there, and for what exactly? These days "cheap" thrills are hard to find.

[+ Gar1eth]

I only made it once. It must have been Nov/Dec 2014. It was my first trip to NYC as an adult (I had gone to a Jewish camp near Warwick, NY for 6 weeks as a teenager. But aside from flying into and out of NYC, we only had one daytrip to NYC proper) I was 44. It happened by chance that the hotel I booked was on the same street as the Gaiety but on the other side from Times Square from the club. I think there was a TGIF facing Times Square on my side of the block. It was a Comfort Inn or something like that. I'm glad the Gaiety was so close. As the day I arrived, a major cold from hit NYC. it was the coldest it had been since the previous April. I had come from warm S Texas and was freezing.

 

So the Gaiety was very interesting. I had been hiring for about a year and a half at that time. I saw one guy at the Gaiety who had been advertising on Rentboy. We met to talk in that area/hallway that was on the left -separated a bit from the seating area-as you faced the stage. He actually had a business card made up with his name, phone #, and (I think) Internet site. I ended up not hiring him. I think I wasn't sure how interactive he was.

 

However I did manage to make up for that by hiring Rick Munroe and Nick German for overnights. Alec Martinez was in for a visit and I had an hour with him too-what a sweet guy.

 

I always planned to go back to the Gaiety on a future trip. But the closing was announced a few months later.

 

Gman

[TruHart1]

I only made it once. It must have been Nov/Dec 2014...

 

I always planned to go back to the Gaiety on a future trip. But the closing was announced a few months later.

 

Gman

 

Did you mean Nov/Dec 2004, Gman? Otherwise I would have been going there myself the last few years!

 

TruHart1

[+ purplekow]

Hard to believe i never mustered the courage to walk in there. Passed by many times and thought about going in to satisfy a curiosity but the entry was ominous for me, climbing stairs into the dark. Never got past the threshold. Did meet with a few of the dancers though. They were fun.

[+ Gar1eth]

Did you mean Nov/Dec 2004, Gman? Otherwise I would have been going there myself the last few years!

 

TruHart1

Oops!!! Yes, I did. Thanks for catching my typo.

 

Gman

[patrick23]

I can still remember seeing the little ads for the Gaiety in the Village Voice and wanting to give it a try. I walked by the entrance but that staircase leading to god knows

where scared me off. I was closeted and had gone to many female strip clubs with my friends and was dying to see a male strip show. Finally on election day in 1992

I got the courage to go in. I walked up the stairs and there was the window with a woman inside. She took my money without even looking up and in I went. It seemed

seedy with the porn video playing and a few men scattered. I took a seat a few seats back. The show started and a dancer named Tony came out. He started dancing and

took his shirt off and then unbuttoned his pants. He lowered the back to show his butt. He then left the stage. Based on my experience with NJ female strip clubs, I

figured that was it, that he couldn't show anymore. Boy was I shocked when he came back out completely nude and erect. I was in shock and in heaven. I couldn't

believe it and was excited that after him I would see 6 more guys naked. It was so great. I went back many times over the years. I went to the late show with 12 dancers

a few times but each time there would be a woman in the audience acting stupid so I didn't like it as much. I sure miss that place.

[SFViking]

The first memory that came to mind was taking a more straight-laced gay friend there. He was as shocked as I had been to be able to watch fully naked me with erections in a public place. To this day, he uses that experience to prove what a wild man SFViking is (was?).

 

Since my memory is pretty poor, I had to dig back into my journals to see what I'd written about the Gaiety over the years. I first discovered the G* in October, 1993. 1993 & 1994 I merely commented on some of the performers. I apparently used the dancers there to "warm me up" for trips to Rounds, the Townhouse or Stella's. While I used to visit NY in the fall for many years in the '90's there was no mention of the G* again until starting in 1998 when I documented trips from 1998 to 2004. In 2000 I mentioned Rocha, who is mentioned in 25 threads in the Male Strip Club forum.

 

My first mention of hiring someone from the G* was "Tristan" in 2000. Only an OK encounter, but I mentioned him "scrunching" my body fat around. I wrote "Sort of like a massage, but it reminded me how much body fat there is to move around." Unfortunately, that is still true today.

 

"..the hustlers were wearing more expensive clothes than I do. 'Mickey' had on a pair of track pants he said cost $495." Not true today.

 

I made frequent mention of New York Observers' very regular reviews of the performers.

 

2003 - "My two favorite dancers were Vito and Ronnie LaCoeur. . ."

 

My last trip to NY was in 2004. No specific performers mentioned.

[Irtwo]

He started dancing and

took his shirt off and then unbuttoned his pants. He lowered the back to show his butt. He then left the stage.

 

That was one aspect of the show I didn't like. The stripping part was very sexy and I always wish they could do a complete strip to the nude, rather than leaving then coming back out completely naked. I once mentioned that to one of the dancers, and he said Denise wouldn't allow them to do a strip like that. I can't remember the reason why she didn't like it.

[whipped guy]

I only visited the place once circa 1980 after seeing quite a few ads in various newspapers. I remember making the climb up the stairs and yes, there was a woman who collected the money. I found the place to be somewhat raunchy. Plus there was some dorky looking young guy dancing and he was quite pathetic with all sorts of awkward gyrations. I figured that it had to get better, but the next guy was cut from the same cloth. Totally disappointed, I eventually left... At that phase in my life I was not quite sure what team I should be playing on and the experience did not exactly solidify things for me.

 

Fast forward to the 21st Century and my Gaiety connection came from hiring one of the dancers who often appeared there... the popular Drako, a partner of escort Mike Grey, who after their breakup escorted under a variety of ever changing monikers. He was a bit flaky, but down deep was a decent guy and was a quite talented singer too boot. He did do a few dance moves for me on occasion. He moved to California and then kind of disappeared. We certainly shared some fun times, but the venue closed about the time that I began hiring him and I never returned. Though if the dancers looked half as good as Drako did back then I certainly missed out on some good times...

[RyanDean]

After eyeballing those bleached out posters above HoJo's during my first trips to the big city as a teen, I was thrilled to finally make my pilgrimage to the Gaiety when I first hit NYC after college in the early 90s. I remember how flattered I was that one genuine beauty made a beeline for me during that "interval" in the lounge. Nobody so hot had ever chatted me up like that, even though I was young and pretty cute back then. Unfortunately, I was also broke, which the beauty quickly discerned. So he moved right along to more promising prospects. It took me a day or two to realize what happened.

 

I went back to Gaiety a few times but, before long, I realized that I preferred the sleazier, cheaper, strippier fun of ShowPalace on 8th, where a whole lotta fun could be had for only a few bucks. (Again, probably a perk of my being young & cute at the time.) I also enjoyed how routinely I spied minor celebrities slumming there. So ShowPalace became my destination whenever I found myself with some extra dollars and a couple hours to kill in midtown.

 

I really do miss both those little cesspools.

[adriano46]

Back in the last century (ahem) I discovered the Gaiety Theater about the time that two movie houses that showed gay porn came to an end -- one was called King or Kings, and the other name escapes me but they were nearby in midtown west, dark, dingy and really exciting to visit for a film and a grope or more. Once they closed (and were completely razed), I started visiting the Gaiety, remember that climb up to the 2nd floor, and the small, intimate theater space with the curtained off "meeting area" to the left where - if you were lucky - you could chat up the dancers between or after shows. If you were VERY lucky, you could invite one or more out for a cup of coffee or meal (my experience was many enjoyed the invite for a meal and usually went in pairs), and if you hit the jackpot, dessert was often offered - if you get my drift.

 

I enjoyed the Gaiety more than Stella's (up and running at the same time) because there was no pressure on you to do much more than sit and enjoy. Whatever money you spent was on your own initiative. Sometimes they had great headliners; other times the names were not memorable, but all in all, some very find muscular handsome guys always in the line-up. Never knew about that policy of Denise that the guys not completely strip. I always thought they went off stage to get "fluffed" and come back out with an outstanding "standing" member.

[Traveler North]

Today is the 10th anniversary of the date that the Gaiety closed - 03/18/2005. I expected to see a discussion in this forum!

Went to Gaiety a number of times. Really great. Ended up adjourning to hotel with a guy twice, big muscle Giovanni and nice kid from Denver, Tim. Very different but a lot of fun. Really miss the place.

[RPCny]

Wow! You guys are bringing up memories like an intense therapy session. The Gaiety, et al, played a very significant role in my young gay life in the early to mid-eighties. That's where I went to have sex; mostly at the porn palaces, where you could always find some action. But as some of you describe, I eventually made it up those stairs to The Gaiety. It's funny, especially now, to think about how foreboding those stairs (and that place) seemed. Who was gonna see me? LOL. As someone also noted, in the early days it could get rather wild backstage. The "private shows" would often take place there and if you hit it off with a dancer, he might keep you around to fluff him for the finale. Once I figured that out, I tried to time my privates accordingly ~. You could even get some action in the back seats, in the side areas by the projection booths, with other patrons. I had one particular favorite dancer, whose name escapes me. He was a big strapping boy who I referred to as The Norweigan. (It was during a time when everyone I was hooking up with seemed to be from a foreign country. I was a veritable sexual UN.) He ended up being my first ever hire and had an ass to die for.

 

Beyond other legendary porn palaces like The Adonis -- forever immortalized on celluloid and where you could have sex in any number of locations in its cavernous enviorns -- and The Big Top, no one has mentioned the lowest rent stripper/porn theater, The Eros, on Eighth Avenue. I'd only drop in there in a pinch, but there was something delightfully skeezy about it. The privates took place down in the dressing room/bathroom area in the basement. You had to go down a very narrow hallway to get there. Hilarious! As was also mentioned, I concur that the Show Palace was my favorite. It never seemed to draw quite the same crowds as The Gaiety, even though they always had an "A-list" porn star appearing each week. That was a pretty big thrill back then in the pre-internet days. And if you couldn't make it down to TSP, you could catch him (and others) dancing on The Robin Byrd Show, the legendary local access cable show hosted by the titular one-time porn star. One of my highlights was hanging out (and making out) with the-Falcon Star Jack Dillon (who, sadly, I believe is/was in prison) in the lobby area. Like all the guys, he was just priming the pump for a potential "date" that never happened. But who the fuck cares. I was mad for the guy at the time.

 

What I liked best about Show Palace was that they had three theaters and sometimes you could from one to another (the third was strictly for cruising) to see dancers. And the dancers were very interactive, especially if you were in one of the out-of-the way darkened areas. I sucked more than a few dicks for a nominal tip. The atmosphere was more sex-charged than The Gaiety. They also had occasional "sex shows" with a couple of guys where simulated sex would occur. That also happened at The Gaiety, a bit, during the finales. At The Show Palace, though, I remember the line being crossed more than once or twice. Some guys in the audience would get very up close and personal.

 

As we're all bemoaning, I sure do miss those places. It's not just a matter of nostalgia for the New York of my youth. (Though I do even miss the dirty NYC of the seventies when I was a teenager. Now it just feels a mall overrun with tourists.) But it was a part of a sex positive New York that Giuliani all but ran out of town. There are so many places in the world, even a few in this country, that have a more sex positive attitude and access to sex-related businesses (relatively speaking) than we do. It's great to see these stripper clubs being revived. That's definitely a step in the right direction.

[leeper]

I was going to comment when this thread first appeared, but somehow got sidetracked. Thanks RPCny for bringing it forward again. The Gaiety was incredibly special to me. The pleasure of observing beautiful naked men without having to avert your eyes, and to be able to stare intently at every part of their bodies as they danced a few feet from you was unimaginable for me. And, after 20 years of not touching another man, it was at the Gaiety that I finally got up my courage to take one of the dancers back for "a private". It "broke the ice" so to speak for hiring sessions to follow. I always read New York Observer's reviews, which were usually on Mondays when the dancers for the week started. Based on the reviews, I would plan a trip into the city for the weekend if someone struck my fancy. I still miss the place alot. For those of us who were to patrons of the the place, it was truly special.

[Boink]

One small way to bring back the old days. You can peruse old copies of The Village Voice here. They were always rife with ads for all the by-gone porn palaces...

 

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=KEtq3P1Vf8oC&dat=19700402&b_mode=2&hl=en

[OneFinger]

t ...I finally got up my courage to take one of the dancers back for "a private". It "broke the ice" so to speak for hiring sessions to follow. I always read New York Observer's reviews, which were usually on Mondays when the dancers for the week started. Based on the reviews, I would plan a trip into the city for the weekend if someone struck my fancy. I still miss the place alot. For those of us who were to patrons of the the place, it was truly special.

That place really was a big part of my coming out process. I, too, loved to read the reviews by New York Observer.

 

I have very fond memories of hiring guys that I met there. They were fantastic and some of the best hiring experiences of my life.

[thickornotatall]

Deputy Of Love...We all went (5 of us) after 12West to watch...have some fun...I entered and won an amateur strip contest...I don't remember the prize...but did get to bring home my fave dancer...

Besides Gaiety ..Big Top..Big Apple....Barracks....Adonis..all on the walking tour late Saturday nights or early Sunday morning...8th Ave from the low 50's to the high 30's was a cornucopia of flesh/drugs and just plain fun...miss all the trashy nights and the partaking of ....also Gilded Grape...

[brettnyc]

The Gaiety is sorely missed. I found NYO's reviews always tantalizing; as his description of each week's line-up painted a picture of the bounty of hot naked men that awaited up that flight of stairs under Denise's purview. I am sorry I never made it to Show Palace, as others suggested it had as much to offer if not more than the Gaiety in its heyday. Alas, I don't think those days will return, nor do I think the younger generation is of the same mindset as the one that frequented these places - given the proclivity of using social media in place of in the flesh cruising. Somehow those days seem a little sexier and less generic than now...

[RyanDean]

This weekend's passing of a notable playwright put me in mind of the strip joints of yore (my one encounter with said playwright happened at ShowPalace) and somehow led to my watching the entirety of the extraordinary time capsule, Times Square Strip (1982). Filmed mostly at The Gaiety, the film is, by turns, terrible and transcendent. But ohhh the memories!

 

Has anyone else seen it recently?

http://pic.aebn.net/Stream/Movie/BoxCovers/a165460_xlf.jpg