The Cock, East Village: This gay-men-only bar is the most cruise-y of all the gay bars in the city. Pretty much any after-work evening, expect the bar to steadily become jam packed.Ĭlub Cumming, East Village: Nodding to its part-owner, Alan Cumming, the former Eastern Bloc dive bar hosts regular cabaret events, Broadway-style shows, drag performances, and dance parties. The Boiler Room, East Village: This dive bar features a packed juke box, a well-priced happy hour, and late night dance parties.īoxers NYC, Chelsea: Buff, shirtless bartenders pour up 2-for-1 happy hour drinks in a sports bar setting. Stay late for the top-notch drag shows and dancing.
#Gym gay bar nyc free
Registrants for Outsports Pride will receive free food and drink specials during our Boxers HK kickoff event.Atlas Social Club, Hell's Kitchen: Of the many queer bars in Hell's Kitchen, Atlas Social Club has more of an alternative vibe you'd expect from an East Village or Williamsburg bar.īarracuda Lounge, Chelsea: This divey-feeling bar is a Chelsea mainstay, brought to you by the owners of Elmo Restaurant and Industry Bar. Outsports Pride features a weekend of gatherings, social events, the NYC Pride March, and a Dodgers-Mets game. Outsports will host its kickoff party for Outsports Pride on the gorgeous rooftop deck at Boxers HK, 742 Ninth Ave. And who knows, the latest Boxers could be opening up in your city before you know it. Regardless of who pours the drinks, Boxers has become one of the preeminent gay sports bars in the country. But for the owners, if the bartender is “hot and friendly,” and can handle a sometimes fast-paced work environment, that’s what matters. In fact, the owners caught hell from a handful of patrons when they hired their first straight bartenders. That isn’t to say that all of the Boxers bartenders are gay or bi. He came to Boxers young and impressionable, and he’s found his place.” We had a note from one of our bartenders just a few weeks ago. “A lot of our bartenders are young guys and they are just figuring out their lives. “It’s changed a lot of people’s lives,” Hynds said.
While providing jobs to 100 people in New York and Philadelphia is important to them, the building of an LGBTQ-friendly community for those employees is equally important.
The owners are particularly proud of the impact they have had on the lives of their employees. Hynds himself played in the Big Apple Softball League for “a long time,” which he eventually quantified as “about 30 years.” The bar is proud to be a sponsor of New York’s softball, flag football, swimming, dodgeball, running, pool and basketball teams and leagues, among other groups. They have stayed true to their roots, remaining heavily involved in local LGBTQ sports leagues. The gay sports bar was founded by men in the local gay pool league looking for a place to play the sport they love. “It’s like the new Hell’s Kitchen.”Ī Boxers bar has also popped up in Philadelphia, making the chain “multi-city.” “There’s quite a gay community up there,” Hynds said. This summer they are slated to open a fourth bar in Washington Heights, the area of Manhattan north of 155th Street. They draw their crowd and we draw our crowd.”īoxers has tested that theory and opened three Boxers bars across Manhattan, each of which has tapped into the neighborhood LGBTQ community: in Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen and the Upper East Side. “Once you walk a few blocks it’s kind of a different area. “Manhattan is such a big monster, and the gay community is so big and diverse and people want to go out in their neighborhood,” Hynds told Outsports recently. While some may have scratched their heads at two gay bars opening within just a few years and within a few blocks of one another, Boxers owner Rob Hynds has found there’s enough interest in gay bars - including sports-themed bars - to make every business owner happy. When Boxers first popped up in Manhattan, there was already a gay sports bar in the neighborhood: Gym Sports Bar, which opened in Chelsea in 2005. Yet Boxers, the gay sports bar that originally opened its first location on 20th Street in Chelsea, is now starting its 10th year, going stronger than ever, and spreading across New York City and beyond. Outsports will host its kickoff party for Outsports Pride on the gorgeous rooftop deck at Boxers HK on June 21.