Bronx gay bars
An old Port Morris motorcycle repair shop will soon become the only same-sex attracted bar in a borough with few spaces for the LGBTQ community.Audrey de Jesus said she is hoping to open the three-story club and restaurant, which will feature queenly and burlesque shows, in August.
With exposed pipes and yellow walls, the stucco-fronted space looks like it has weathered some storms. But so has de Jesus, 58, who has opened three gay bars in the Bronx since 2006. Each closed within about three years, for reasons ranging from motorcycle gang violence to a barrage of neighborhood 311 calls. But in the encounter of a changing South Bronx and a more supportive business community, de Jesus believes her fourth venture will be the one that sticks.
“I believe this is my time,” said de Jesus, adding that she hopes a rooftop garden at the East 132nd St. venue is also in the works.“The unique thing about this establishment is that I’m open to everything. I want everybody to be comfortable.”
To ensure that that is the case, de Jesus says she will poll area residents to determine a specify for the bar, and to learn what same-sex attracted and straight residents alike would like to notice come from it. Additionally, the winner
Closed: The gay nightlife scene in the Bronx goes out of business
Every Friday evening at the Bronx’s only gay bar, a queen of the overnight held court.
Specializing in Whitney Houston, Kelly KaBoom also keeps Beyoncé and Ariana Grande on heavy rotation. As Identity’s resident performative performer, she danced and lip synced in 4-inch heels, shimmering costumes and wigs — “the bigger, the better.” Kelly KaBoom, also known as JyQuan Reede outside the club, did medleys, took requests and always staged “a reveal,” a dramatic costume change mid-set.
“The crowd that comes in — they’re recording, they’re screaming your name,” says Reede. “I love entertaining people; seeing people smile and possess a good time.”
But in mid-February, Reede learned there would be no more “Lit Fridays with Kelly Kaboom” at Identity in Woodlawn Heights. The block closed permanently, leaving the Bronx with no LGBTQ nightlife space — again.
“We had so many LGBTQ places in New York, but most of them got shut down,” says Reede, a North Bronx resident who’s been doing drag for 20 years. “For us to acquire one that was local in the Bronx, it was great. When things start to change up, it’s just like, ‘What i
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Cover: No! Look: GLAM
The Bronx
overview
This collection of sites in the Bronx highlights the borough’s diverse LGBT history through residences, public spaces, and cultural institutions paired with people of tint, the childhood residence of a pioneering individual in transgender history, and the final resting place of many notable LGBT Novel Yorkers.
While much of Unused York City’s known LGBT history and life centers on Manhattan, we are currently working on adding more Bronx sites to our website. If you have a suggestion, please saturate out our online form.
This theme was made feasible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the sustain of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the Recent York State Legislature, and a grant from Con Edison.
Header Photo
Arthur Avilés (center left) and performers of the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!), outside 841 Barretto Street, part of the (former) American Bank Note Company Printing Plant complex, c. 2000. Courtesy of the BAAD! Archive.
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