A Different LGBTQ+ Bar in NYC for Every Night of Pride Month
Queer nightlife options never disappoint in the city where Pride was born.
In NYC, queer people aren’t limited to only a couple options when planning a night out—in fact, the trick is narrowing down which places to visit. This city is the birthplace of Pride after all, which means you can hop from cocktail den to dive to nightclub to karaoke bar without ever stepping foot in a str**ght establishment. And while Hell’s Kitchen and the West Village have some of the most concentrated gay bar populations, New York is a place where no one gayborhood exists—LGBTQ+ watering holes are sprinkled all around town, each offering a wildly different experience that stays true to its neighborhood’s energy.
Some of our favorite queer bars are brand new, some were central figures in the gay liberation movement. Some cater to specific groups within the queer community, some are a melting pot of gender, sexuality, kink, and expression. But the one thing each has in common is that some way, somehow, they make the city shine a little brighter. Now including a few new spots that opened ahead of Pride Month 2024, here are the 20 best LGBTQ+ bars in NYC right now.
Best Gay Bars in Manhattan
Hell’s Kitchen
Balcon Salon popped up in late 2023 as the promising younger sister to Manhattan hotspots Pieces, Playhouse and Hardware, brandishing a unique, cabaret-style performance space overlooked by a U-shaped balcony. Happy hour runs till 8 pm on weekdays—meaning $6 well drinks, beer, and wine—and non-happy hour cocktails include the fruity Balcontini, smoked Mezcal Negroni, and zero-proof Mockarita. Still, top-tier entertainment is the true selling point of this instant Hell’s Kitchen gem, anchored by Sunday night’s marquee event Balcon Rouge, a sultry drag cabaret show that captures the spirit of the establishment.
Chelsea
Not a hurricane, nor earthquake, nor zombie apocalypse could get in the way of your night out at Barracuda. The windowless bunker bar shuts out the world around it to fully immerse visitors in everything it has to offer—and it offers quite a bit. For nearly 30 years, it’s given the stage to all sorts of now-prominent NYC performers, including Tina Burner and Peppermint, and its Thursday night Star Search event touts itself as the longest-running drag competition and served as a precursor to RuPaul’s Drag Race.
West Village
One of the city’s last surviving lesbian bars, Cubbyhole boasts far more customers than square footage. The ladies are friendly at this long-standing dive, and if you’re new to the scene, you’ll get to know everyone pretty damn quick. The beauty of this iconic gem transcends its gaudy ceiling decor; it’s a multigenerational playground where strangers become friends, Chappell Roan rules the jukebox, and straight men enter at their own risk.
Hell’s Kitchen
Rural gays get their due at HK’s unapologetically Western saloon where outfitted bartenders serve more than just drinks. Every so often, the dancing drink-makers clack their boots across the counter to the sounds of The Chicks, Shania, Dolly, and the like. The bartop choreography is a former farm kid’s fantasy; catch the attention of a dancer and you might earn yourself a free shot during the show. After Texas two-stepping your way through the night, who knows whose bed your boots will end up under.
Hell’s Kitchen
Just in time for Pride 2024, It’s Him opened its doors in the reimagined space formerly occupied by Frankie’s Pub. The seductive cocktail bar-meets-social club is a far cry from Hell’s Kitchen’s raucous reputation, prioritizing intimacy and ambiance with mellow lighting, carefully selected DJs, jazz performances, and a dress code described as “elegant, smart casual, fitted & fashionable.” If you ever doubt which NYC gay bar offers the classiest night-out experience, let us clear it up for you: It’s Him.
West Village
This decades-old favorite never stopped being fun. The cash-only dive that’s widely considered the oldest gay bar in New York City has been slinging drinks to a mostly male crowd since the 1860s, and in the 1960s, the clientele began skewing queer after a “Sip-In” led to the State Supreme Court declaring that “well-behaved homosexuals” could not be denied service. Today, the jukebox at Julius’ blares as gay forefathers and Gen Z twinks slam down drinks and snarf fried foods in perfect harmony. Fortunately, the “well-behaved” restriction no longer applies in the 21st century, so all bets are off for what you’ll witness.
Harlem
Gay bars are scarce north of Hell’s Kitchen, which is why Harlem’s surviving queer jaunts are such important staples in New York City’s queer community. Opened during the pandemic, Lambda Lounge aims to blend “downtown elegance” with “uptown swag.” The Black-owned bar achieves its goal with tufted leather sofas, exposed brick walls, and colorful mood lighting; if you plan to arrive with a crowd, you can reserve a private section in advance to secure a space. If you live closer to East Williamsburg, check out their newer spinoff, Club Lambda BK, a dark and sleek space with pops of neon color and a beautiful sunroom to allow some natural light in before dusk.
East Village
Phoenix recently transferred ownership to its longtime bar manager, prompting renovations and programming updates that brought the 25-year-old East Village dive out of the ashes and into a new era. Each night at Phoenix will bring you something different, with an event rotation that includes trans and non-binary happy hours, bear-forward dark room parties, slutty drinking games, classic queer film screenings, karaoke sessions, and trivia nights. During the earlier hours, you can always find a familiar cast of local characters playing billiards and sipping Kyiv Mules in their chosen third place.
West Village
It’s no coincidence that this bar shares a name with the 1969 Stonewall Riots: The Stonewall Inn is where the gay liberation movement began over 50 years ago, securing its place as the most notable LGBTQ+ bar in the world. Now a National Historic Landmark, the spot continues bringing queer people and out-of-towners together with regular drag shows, dance parties, piano nights, and Pride-themed events.
Hell’s Kitchen
Vers is one of the newer Hell’s Kitchen clubs that really homes in on versatility. Here you can get elevated snacks and craft cocktails or stick to the vodka soda diet; you can enjoy boozy brunch on a weekend afternoon or a raucous party in the wee hours of the morning. Entertainment spans beyond star-studded Drag Race viewing parties and late-night DJs to also include piano, comedy, and variety shows. Only open since 2022, it’s already got half the neighborhood beat.
Best Gay Bars in Brooklyn
Williamsburg
The Metropolitan-Lorimer area’s gay bar circuit just got bigger with the addition of Animal. The indoor-outdoor space shares an owner with the nearby Exley bar, and for the most part has the same energy, albeit with more square footage. Boasting multiple connecting areas, you can spend a whole evening here: Sip a cocktail on the sunny outdoor patio for happy hour, move into the temperature-controlled sunroom at dusk, then get energized on the red-light dancefloor after dark and until the wee morning hours.
Bushwick
A self-proclaimed “dyke bar for the queers,” The Bush aims to use its real estate on Troutman Street to offer a less male-dominated alternative for LGBTQ+ folks to meet, mingle, and party all through the week. The bar was opened by two longtime friends who spent six years bringing their vision to life. Enjoy lite bites, mocktails, and rotating seasonal cocktails that play on a variety of flavors.
Bed-Stuy
Owned and operated by queer people, C’mon Everybody is an independent bar and music venue that hosts some of the sexiest, sweatiest queer parties in the city, filled with a diverse mix of folks from every race, gender, and orientation. Unlike other clubby destinations, the spot also prides itself on its drink menu which extends beyond well drinks to include bright and flavorful cocktails like the radicalesbian-inspired Lavender Menace and the hibiscus-flavored Love in Bloom that you can sit and sip with or without entertainment.
Park Slope
Ginger’s, like every bar, closed its doors when the pandemic first rolled into New York City, but for more than a year, the word on the street was that it would never see the light of day again. Then, just as locals prepared to enter the final stage of grief, the spot clawed its way back onto the scene, preventing the borough’s last lesbian bar (at the time) from going under. With an enthusiastic new business partner, Ginger’s reopened in late 2021, since reinstating its rightful place as the LGBTQ+ community hub of South Brooklyn, with its signature Irish influence, incredible outdoor space, and events like queeraoke, dyke drag shows, trivia nights, and pool tournaments.
East Williamsburg
The team behind beloved lesbian bar Ginger’s brought a new inclusive queer space, Mary’s, to the border of Greenpoint and East Williamsburg in 2023. With cozy outdoor space and a modern Irish pub vibe inside, the bar has already introduced a slate of regular entertainment, including trivia, bingo, biweekly karaoke, guest DJs, and the occasional evening of Irish trad music. This is one of those meeting places where you make new friends, plain and simple.
Williamsburg
Williamsburg has changed tremendously over the past couple of decades, but after stepping foot into the ever-popular Metropolitan, you’d never know it. Since 2002, the outer-borough locale has stayed true to its grit—a brand that includes fog machines, go-go dancers, billiards, and an enormous backyard that hosts free summer barbecues and year-round enthusiasm. Metropolitan shrugs away the notion of craft cocktails and avant-garde entertainment, instead adhering to the principle that in a neighborhood of newness, it’s important for some things to stay the same.
Williamsburg
The Rosemont sprouted on a quiet block of Montrose Avenue in late 2016 as a spot where Brooklynites could get their sweat on. The bar doesn’t come to life until late in the night, but once it does, you’ll find yourself dancing to your heart’s content (the spacious back patio serves as the perfect cool-down area). The place creates a welcome environment for all queer people—one that thrives even on weeknights, and more importantly, one that values diversity in all its forms.
Best Gay Bars in Queens
Astoria
Albatross doesn’t need craft beers to hold its place as one of Queens’ most delightful queer bars; their potent 16-ounce “cock-tails,” which go for $9, prove that sometimes cheaper is better. The establishment once catered specifically to lesbians, but later shifted its focus to the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. Throughout the week, you’re likely to stumble upon karaoke, drag bingo, cabaret, and screenings of can’t-miss TV events, like major awards shows and Drag Race.
Jackson Heights
When Eddie Valentin opened Friend’s in 1989, one objective was to provide the existing gay Latinx community with a safe space. That goal is still as critical as ever, as many of the city’s POC-friendly bars have been forced to close their doors—a disheartening trend that was worsened by the pandemic. Jackson Heights is home to a concentration of LGBTQ+ establishments, and a naughty night on Roosevelt Avenue should make every queer’s bucket list. Friend’s is the venue that started it all, and today the place frequently runs drink specials, brings in DJs, and hosts exotic male dancers.
Astoria
Of course there’s no wrong way to gay, but if you’re still writing off the outer boroughs, you sure as hell aren’t right. Icon is Astoria’s modern gay sanctuary, worshiping great music and raw talent. Each week, the stage curtains open on some of drag’s fiercest icons,and the bar has served as a feeder for Drag Race with queens like Jan Sport and Jax regularly gracing the stage before getting casted. When queens aren’t dominating the room, the bar’s no less righteous; any night of the week, you’ll be bathed in good vibes.