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Historic Gay Bar on the Brink of Closing?

Brooklyn's oldest gay bar, the Starlite Lounge, may be in danger of closing after the building's owner sold the property.

STARLIGHT LOUNGE BROOKLYN X390 (FAIR USE) | ADVOCATE.COM

Brooklyn's oldest gay bar, the Starlite Lounge, may be in danger of closing after the building's owner sold the property. The lounge, on the corner of Bergen Street and Nostrand Avenue, has been at the location since the 1960s, and is known as possibly the city's first black-owned gay bar.

The new owner of the Crown Heights building wants the property to be "empty," Starlite manager Tim Leviticus told Gothamist.com.

"Without us knowing, the old landlord sold the building -- not even giving us the right to purchase it," he said. "We haven't met the new owner yet, but we've heard he wants the building to be empty."

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Reader Comments
  • Name: dieter
    Date posted: 11/16/2009 1:07:02 PM
    Hometown: sacramento

    Comment:

    hmmm..Paranoid?..oh look here James...in the news today: ATLANTA – The nation's largest publisher of newspapers serving the gay and lesbian community has shut down. Laura Douglas-Brown, editor of Southern Voice newspaper in Atlanta, said she arrived at work Monday to find the locks changed and a note saying parent company Window Media LLC had closed down. interesting...ANOTHER gay cmpany shut down, when the straight owners closed the company down lol..yep I sure am paranoid..hope YOUR place of employment isn't straight owned... notice they never told the manager or staff of the gay place...they just changed the locks and left a fricken note.

  • Name: dieter
    Date posted: 11/15/2009 11:48:58 AM
    Hometown: sacramento

    Comment:

    James...NO not paranoid. Realistic..perhaps if you spent more time in your comminity learning its laws and history and less time TRYING desperately and failing to make others look bad, you would see that this is becoming a widespread phenomena. IN EVERY CITY. you have a terrific day....IDIOT!

  • Name: Larry
    Date posted: 11/14/2009 9:47:23 PM
    Hometown: Pittsburgh

    Comment:

    I'm 65 and I've outgrown bars, or they have outgrown me. I met my partner online after mine of 25 years passed away. Don't think the right wing is involved, just money. Go!!!!!! Silverdaddies.com

  • Name: Dan
    Date posted: 11/14/2009 9:24:33 PM
    Hometown: Brooklyn

    Comment:

    I am from Brooklyn and never heard of this place

  • Name: Fred Lemish
    Date posted: 11/14/2009 10:39:25 AM
    Hometown: Long Island, NY

    Comment:

    Not so much paranoid speculation as speculation rooted in reality regarding a new technique of closing gay friendly venues. I've been through the process where your landlord say "Everything is fine and we're looking forward to continuing to work with you in the future" and when your lease is up the landlord hands you an eviction notice. Why would a landlord give you a chance to buy the building you've occupied forever when you might choose to move into a new location costing him the revenue remaining on your lease? Unfortunately if you're comfortable where you are, and used to working around the flaws in an aging building you're not ready or equipped to do the work necessary for a major move. When you're working under threat of an eviction and time is limited then sometimes your only choice is to go out of business. Europe has history, the USA has real estate agents. New York may have the worst real estate agents of all.

  • Name: James
    Date posted: 11/13/2009 9:11:50 PM
    Hometown: New York

    Comment:

    @ commenter #1 - Paranoid much?

  • Name: dieter
    Date posted: 11/13/2009 8:28:09 PM
    Hometown: sacramento

    Comment:

    Get used to it..this is about to become the newest wave of harrassment. People selling any property that has a gay establishment on it...so they can remove the "gay". mark my words...the churches, and the bigots are about to start buying anything they can that includes any gay issue. They will then systematically ensure that no gay establishments survive. It is time to fight back...and this time not with words. arm yourselves...and fight back..HARD..and make it painful!



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