Mafia gay bars

GAB | The Global Anticorruption Blog

A little after midnight on June 28, 1969, New York City police officers raided the Stonewall Inn, a seedy exclude in Greenwich Village famous for catering to a mostly LGBTQ crowd. Such raids were not uncommon—in fact, the Stonewall Inn had already been raided just four days prior to that now historic evening. But for some reason, that particular raid on that particular nighttime had touched off aggressive clashes between police and Stonewall’s patrons, becoming a watershed moment for the LGBTQ civil rights movement in the United States. Indeed, the Stonewall Inn is now a national monument, and the anniversary of Stonewall is commemorated every year with Lgbtq+ fest parades around the world.

In the days following the riots, however, the Stonewall Inn was in utter disarray: graffiti sprawled on its boarded-up windows read: “GAY PROHIBITION CORRUPT$ COP$ / FEED$ MAFIA.” That brief and blunt remark captures an important reality about Stonewall, one that is important for sympathetic both the historical context of the Stonewall uprising, as well as the intersection between anti-LGBTQ discrimination and corruption that persists today: The riots weren’t only

mafia gay bars

The gay rights movement and the Mob

Nearly 50 years ago, on June 28, 1969, LGBT people – led by drag queens – rebelled against a raid by the Novel York Police Department on the Stonewall Inn lgbtq+ nightclub. For two nights, gay men and women fought back against the police until they withdrew. “Stonewall” later became seen as perhaps the most important symbolic event in the modern LGBT rights movement.

Less well known is that the turbulent nights of June 28-29, 1969, were very much a rebellion against the Mafia, as well. The Stonewall was secretly owned by Matthew “Matty the Horse” Ianiello, a high-level caporegime (captain) in the Genovese crime family who held hidden interests in a series of gay bars and porn stores in the Greenwich Village and Times Square neighborhoods. Mob-run gay bars were notorious for charging high-prices for lousy, watered-down drinks from bootlegged liquor (“Mafia home beer,” one patron dubbed it.) The Stonewall Inn itself was an unlicensed “bottle club,” often filthy, with no running rain behind the bar. Mobbed-up bar owners would periodically let the police sprint “show raids” to appease the neighbors, and, in the process, sacrifice some of their

On June 28, 1969, in the late hours of the night, a routine police raid of a gay bar called Stonewall Inn sparked the flame that fueled the first wave of the Same-sex attracted Pride Movement in NYC. On the evening of the raid, approximately 200 people occupied the prevent. Located at 53 Christopher Street, in Greenwich Village, the bar became abode to many types of society outcasts: gay men, drag queens, the transgendered, members of the mafia, hustlers and homeless youths. At approximately 2 AM, the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrived to clear out the prevent. Initially, most patrons were cooperative, left the block as instructed and waited patiently as the police arrested several mafia members inside. Within a scant minutes, police began asking for identification. Female officers escorted cross-dressing individuals to the restrooms to prove their sex, which led to several arrests. After seeing several gay men and women being arrested, the crowd gathered outside of the bar became increasingly agitated. As more patrol vehicles arrived, they began shouting at the officers: "Gay Power!" "We shall overcome!" People started throwing pennies and vacant beer bottles at police vehicles. Inside the exclude some p

Dec. 26, 2024

A Whole New Meaning to Leave the Gun, Get the Cannoli

When most people hear the word "Mafia," they likely envision the world of The Godfather or The Sopranos, iconic images of tough, masculine, and often violent men running organized crime empires. But few would immediately think of the Mafia as a player in New York City's same-sex attracted bar scene during the 1960s. However, for nearly a decade, the Mafia had a strategic stranglehold over these spaces, controlling much of the male lover nightlife in New York, especially in Greenwich Village.

It wasn’t because the Mafia was an ally of the LGBTQ+ community. Their motives were purely financial, capitalizing on the legal grey areas surrounding queer establishments. Today, this part of history has largely been forgotten or even erased, but it's a critical chapter that reveals a complex relationship between organized crime, police corruption, and LGBTQ+ oppression.

The Increase of Gay Bars as Safe Spaces

Before delving into the Mafia’s involvement, it’s important to understand the significance of gay bars in American history. These establishments began to pop up as early as the 1930s, functioning as