Culture

The Boiler Room Is Manhattan’s Friendliest Gay Bar


“You don’t feel like you’re being watched or that sort of cliquey feeling that you have a lot of gay bars,” says Jaron Caldwell, who was a regular when he lived nearby 10 years ago and has since moved away. “It’s built that reputation up over the years, where you know there’s not going to be a scene there.” Something as simple as the physical layout has a big impact: The square room is less conducive to standing around and mugging or judging than it is to introducing yourself. “It’s wider than most bars, so there’s more space to mingle; you don’t feel so trapped,” Jaron says.

The Boiler Room has always felt more social than cruisy. And even as cruising now happens more often online than in person, something about the bar still encourages people to interact. Part of that communal vibe comes from the jukebox, which ensures the music reflects the room (though staff reserves the right to skip tracks that don’t). And part of it is the tone set by the bartenders themselves, who’ve always been as friendly as the drinks are cheap. “In a lot of gay bars, the bartenders are pretty people you’d maybe watch in porn, but you don’t necessarily want to talk to them to get a drink,” because you might feel self-conscious, Henry says. “That’s not to say the bartenders at Boiler Room are not good looking, they’re just easygoing and charming.”

Zak Krevitt

When I tracked down the owner to ask his secret to staying put when many other gay bars have closed, moved, or changed hands, he put it simply: “Cheap drinks and decent service; there’s no magic pill.” Randy Weinberg partnered with his brother to manage the bar back when it opened and drinks were just $2 a pop. Keeping prices low despite rising rent has been a priority, as has careful hiring of bartenders and security. Work ethic and friendliness are the top qualities he looks for, in addition to maturity. “That’s why most of my guys are 30 plus, not 20 plus, even though I do get complaints about that,” he says. His bartenders tend to stay on for five to 15 years on average, allowing them to become familiar faces and build rapport. “You don’t have to be all smiles, but you have to have a good energy,” Randy says.

But a lot has changed since 1991, not just the neighborhood but a shift in how gay men socialize and hookup. “The bar itself hasn’t changed, the clientele has changed,” Randy says. “It’s the demography of the whole area, people getting pushed to outer boroughs; they come here but they don’t come as often, and a lot of our clientele is getting older,” he says. “The 20-somethings, they don’t hang out as late. It’s not like it used to be where you’d have to push people out at 4:30 in the morning.” In 2010, he says business started to slow down, the same year Grindr was released and other apps followed. Apps are one of the several likely factors, including gentrification, that have led to the decline and closure of gay bars across the country.



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