NYC's Townhouse

[ericwinters]

Has 'biz' picked up there with rent boys since the demise of rentboy?

[intecblossom]

Where's this townhouse?

[+ Gar1eth]

Where's this townhouse?

 

It's a bar in NYC. It's long had a reputation for older guys looking for younger escorts.

 

Gman

[nycbystander]

Where's this townhouse?

East 58th Street between 3rd Avenue and 2nd Avenue. When it first opened in early '90's was for uptown gay yuppies, a great pick up spot then over years it morphed into a pick-up spot for well behaved working guys ( dress code and it's enforced) particularly after Rounds on East 53rd Street was shut down in the late 90's. Have not been there in about 10-12 years and the last few times I was there was mostly bridge and tunnel types and tourists . Don't know that I would make a special trip to NYC for purposes of visiting the place you might be really disappointed..

[jackjackjack]

East 58th Street between 3rd Avenue and 2nd Avenue. When it first opened in early '90's was for uptown gay yuppies, a great pick up spot then over years it morphed into a pick-up spot for well behaved working guys ( dress code and it's enforced) particularly after Rounds on East 53rd Street was shut down in the late 90's. Have not been there in about 10-12 years and the last few times I was there was mostly bridge and tunnel types and tourists . Don't know that I would make a special trip to NYC for purposes of visiting the place you might be really disappointed..

 

Just curious. What are bridge and tunnel types?

[+ Topseed]

Bridge and tunnel: New Jersey

[jackjackjack]

Bridge and tunnel: New Jersey

Thanks.I'm assuming they come from NJ then. Never heard that. I'm from Santa Monica.

[Tonyko]

Where's this townhouse?

MANY threads here about the T.H. I JUST mentioned it YESTERDAY in THIS thread lol re have u ever been mistaken for a scort etc.

The Townhouse, maybe ten years ago I was in my 30's, after the theater with some older buds who made a B-line for the back room piano bar, I stayed up front and sat with a dude I knew who wasn't a scort but did have an older "Daddy" who was also in the back room. (front room working bois and those looking for one, back room casual dressy hang out where you can listen to show tunes I had on jeans dress shoes a tight T-shirt with a sport coat over it. (management frowns on T-shirts) Got warm, the coat came off, the bud went downstairs to the john, and in a blink this guy plopped down on the sofa next to me and offered to buy me a drink. I politely declined I had a full one. (he wasn't that old maybe late 40's but very heavy) Then he made a comment on my nips (I have big ones lol they show thru a T-shirt) and cut to the chase saying I was just what he was looking for he was very into short muscly guys and how did 200$ to "hang out" with him sound? I laughed and STRESSED I was very flattered he thought I was worth that, but explained I was just there with friends who were in the back. I THOUGHT I was very polite. Well this dude got up and TURNED ON ME in a way that tots surprised me, stood up and said if I was going to be so picky maybe I was in the wrong business! etc etc etc. (he obvs thought I was lying and was so unattracted to him that the $$ needed to be higher or I was waiting for someone better etc) then he walked away. IDK how I could have said it more nicely etc. I guess being turned down in a social setting is one thang we've all been there, but being turned down even by what you think is a Guy For Hire was too much to bear

[nycbystander]

Just curious. What are bridge and tunnel types?

New Jersey, Queens, Brooklyn, Long Island, , ( the Bronx not as much) generally a local not from Manhattan anyone that has to travel to "the city" via a bridge or tunnel.

[+ WilliamM]

East 58th Street between 3rd Avenue and 2nd Avenue. When it first opened in early '90's was for uptown gay yuppies, a great pick up spot then over years it morphed into a pick-up spot for well behaved working guys ( dress code and it's enforced) particularly after Rounds on East 53rd Street was shut down in the late 90's. Have not been there in about 10-12 years and the last few times I was there was mostly bridge and tunnel types and tourists

 

The Townhouse must have changed very quickly because I was there in the early 90s and it was a pick-up spot for older men and well behaved escorts. Also, Rounds closed in 1993 or 1994, not in the late 1990s.

[cany10011]

Bridge and tunnel: New Jersey

 

I thought "bridge and tunnel" is an antiquated and disparaging term no longer in use. I rarely hear that anymore. I actually visit friends who live in the other boroughs and really love the vibrant scenes of Jackson Heights, the great ethnic food in Flushing, and the lovely cobblestone neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Actually, the closest bridge to Townhouse would be on the east side.

[thickornotatall]

Bridge and tunnel: New Jersey

also Brooklyn..LI...anywhere other than the city (Manhattan)..usually crawl and creep over Fri Sat Sun....

The only other Boro I am familiar with is Bklyn....with the advent of sky high property in the city the outer boros urbanized....however....my reason for living in Manhattan is the ease of walking...grabbing a train or cab to get somewhere fast...or just being able to stroll around...If I'm out late at night I never worry about getting home without waiting for a train or trying to convince a cab to go to an outer boro...I've always lived between the village and 86th St...we all have limits...

[+ Axiom2001]

OK, guys! I've gotten the picture, and I live in California. Please get back to the Townhouse, for I just might be enticed to visit when I hope to be back in New York, City

in 2016. Is this venue currently comprised of older men and escorts primarily?

[Diverdan]

Axiom, I would definitely recommend you pay a visit to Townhouse. It is somewhat upscale and the dress code is enforced. In my experience, there are a lot of guys there looking for some fun, and not necessarily escorts. When I have been there, a wide range of ages and types. I was usually there during the week, but I suspect it may be even more busy on Friday nights and the weekends. I enjoy the piano bar in the back, and I found it very easy to strike up conversations with old and young alike. If you want more information, send me a PM. Enjoy NYC when you get there !!!

[+ WilliamM]

Bridge and tunnel: New Jersey

 

I thought "bridge and tunnel" is an antiquated and disparaging term no longer in use. I rarely hear that anymore. I actually visit friends who live in the other boroughs and really love the vibrant scenes of Jackson Heights, the great ethnic food in Flushing, and the lovely cobblestone neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Actually, the closest bridge to Townhouse would be on the east side.

 

I never hear it anymore either. Let me make Topseed aware that I take some pride in being from New Jersey when I was stationed in New Jersey at Fort Dix from June, 1967 to June, 1968. There was a bus from Fort Dix to NYC that traveled back & forth often.

 

On my days off, I saw a lot in NYC that I would otherwise certainly have missed, especially Judy Garland near the end of her life at the Palace Theater and at Christmas: Madison Square Garden's newly opened Felt Forum. I eventually bought a car and did other things, but it was great to be so close to the city with a bus that ran to Fort Dix very late at night.

 

To Axiom: I have not visited The Townhouse for a long time. My guess it's worth a look. In my very few visits I remember many more older men than escorts. Things may have changed if only from the sad, outrageous Rentboy situation.

[Despardo]

Thanks.I'm assuming they come from NJ then. Never heard that. I'm from Santa Monica.

There was a cartoon in the New Yorker many years ago. A woman in Manhattan was explaining to her little daughter, "Yes dear, then we are going to take the Lincoln tunnel home. That's why they call us 'bridge and tunnel' people." The phrase is a pejorative. It means, god damn out of towners from the burbs. Includes both Long Island and New Jersey and perhaps even Connecticut.

[Despardo]

I thought "bridge and tunnel" is an antiquated and disparaging term no longer in use. I rarely hear that anymore. I actually visit friends who live in the other boroughs and really love the vibrant scenes of Jackson Heights, the great ethnic food in Flushing, and the lovely cobblestone neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Actually, the closest bridge to Townhouse would be on the east side.

I suspect the term has fallen out of use since practically nobody can afford to live in Manhattan (or even Brooklyn!) anymore.

[Tonyko]

The term DEF is STILL used, maybe with less of the snobbery it once was, but STILL used to describe young non-Manhattanites.

I have many buds who are promoters, arrange party nights at club venues to get tons of ppl to come etc, and they still used to term to describe the majority of the 20-somethings who fill the places. (I agree BTW, the cool hip urbanite figure has DEF now extended across the East River and over the bridges, and parts of Brooklyn and Queens are now very desirable (which means the Manhattan rents ppl go there to escape will soon follow them lol) Bridge/Tunnel across the OTHER river? NJ? That IDK

[cany10011]

Well, actually most of my friends have moved out of chelsea and into Hells Kitchen, Harlem, Queens and Long Island City. Of my group of 10 friends who lived in chelsea when i moved here in the late 1990s, only 3 of them reside here. All own. In the old days, i wouldn't even venture north of 23rd street as I didn't really need to (except for the Met or Carnegie Hall). It seems now the happening spot is Hells Kitchen....

[+ FreshFluff]

Yes, "bridge and tunnel" is primarily used is to describe the customers in clubs and restaurants.

[LookingAround]

Used all the time in a decidedly perjorative sense. Means lower class unrefined people from outside Manhattan who like cheap glitter. B &T for short.

[BgMstr4u]

And the Sunday and Wednesday Broadway matinee crowds.

[+ WilliamM]

Used all the time in a decidedly perjorative sense. Means lower class unrefined people from outside Manhattan who like cheap glitter. B &T for short.

 

Do you know what the B and T folks say about people who live in Manhattan?

 

 

And the Sunday and Wednesday Broadway matinee crowds.

 

Good to know. That leaves Saturday Broadway matinees when all the elite and smart people from Manhattan attend.

[Despardo]

The term DEF is STILL used, maybe with less of the snobbery it once was, but STILL used to describe young non-Manhattanites.

I have many buds who are promoters, arrange party nights at club venues to get tons of ppl to come etc, and they still used to term to describe the majority of the 20-somethings who fill the places. (I agree BTW, the cool hip urbanite figure has DEF now extended across the East River and over the bridges, and parts of Brooklyn and Queens are now very desirable (which means the Manhattan rents ppl go there to escape will soon follow them lol) Bridge/Tunnel across the OTHER river? NJ? That IDK

For the first time, probably ever, Queens is a desirable place to live as opposed to "wouldn't be found dead living there." It was the only place left for affordable apartments with easy access to Manhattan. Many Queen's neighborhoods now have great ethnic restaurants and are walking distance to the subway. The Archie Bunker stigma has been lifted. The Bronx remains immune to improvement, and Staten Island might as well be on another planet. Jersey City has experienced a renaissance due to the Path connection. (I lived in the West Village from 1971 to 1991. Then midlife crisis hit, and I fled to Los Angeles to reinvent myself--this to the abject horror of my New York friends.)

[Despardo]

Well, actually most of my friends have moved out of chelsea and into Hells Kitchen, Harlem, Queens and Long Island City. Of my group of 10 friends who lived in chelsea when i moved here in the late 1990s, only 3 of them reside here. All own. In the old days, i wouldn't even venture north of 23rd street as I didn't really need to (except for the Met or Carnegie Hall). It seems now the happening spot is Hells Kitchen....

I had only one friend who lived north of 14th Street. Get this, I once actually had a NY cab driver ask me, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" I'd been waiting all my life for that set up.