With COVID-19  devastating much of the country’s nightlife, many restaurants and bars have been hurting, especially the last standing 15 lesbian bars across America. 

Erica Rose, director and co-founder of the Lesbian Bar Project, February 16, 2021. Photo Courtesy of Erica Rose.

Erica Rose, a Brooklyn-based filmmaker, alongside her friend Elina Street banned together to create the Lesbian Bar Project, a four-week fundraiser in the fall of 2020.

“Our goal was to spread the message, spread the word, spread the urgency, and raise money to give some assistance to the bars,” said Rose. 

As a filmmaker, Rose wanted it to be a film project. So she and her team produced a 90-second PSA video to shed light on the significance of these spaces. 

They teamed up with Jägermaester’s #SAVETHENIGHT, an initiative created to support the nightlife community, and gained immense exposure to successfully raise $117,504 to distribute between the 15 bars. 

Well before the pandemic, lesbian bars have been on the decline. According to Rose, this has been an ongoing issue caused heavily by gentrification amid other factors. 

“These spaces are getting devoured by rising rents. They are getting devoured by a client base that is being squashed by heterosexual people. It’s being devoured by now the pandemic,” said Rose. 

It wasn’t until the pandemic acted as a catalyst forcing Rose to take stock of what was most precious to her that she was surprised to learn there were only 15 lesbian bars left. A number nowhere near resemblant of the 8.5 million queer women in the United States. 

“There needs to be space for people to grow, and learn, and experiment. And the fact that there are so few means that we really need to realize how precious those few are,” said Ashley Coia, a New York-based actor.

Along with gentrification bringing in younger generations, it brought with them the world of online dating and a wider acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, lessening the need for queer-centric spaces. However, the importance of these spaces remains crucial, as they offer many a safe place to experiment without unwanted and unwelcome spectators. 

“It was the space that I went the most when I was trying to find myself as a queer woman,” said Coia. “Spaces like Cubbyhole I would go because I just felt so safe there. I could hit on a woman and not worry that a man was going to come up and harass me for it.”

A bar is more than a place to drink in the queer community, it often acts as a creator of community, a place to socialize. 

“What a bar to me is, is a place where you can meet all walks of life,” said Rose. “Walking into Cubbyhole and seeing queer women together and the comradery and the friendship and the community. I was drawn, I was hooked.”

Ali Clayton, a comedian from North Carolina, February 16, 2021. Photo Courtesy of Ali Clayton

For Ali Clayton, a comedian who has been sober since 2018, it was difficult for her to go to social events that involved drinking when she first recovered. But Henrietta Hudson, another lesbian bar in Manhattan offered alternative ways, like trivia nights and dancing, for Clayton to enjoy herself in good company. 

Clayton described the emotions that the atmosphere of queer spaces elicits as “freeing” and “validating.” 

She expressed that exclusive spaces made for lesbians promote a safe place and different energy that allows her to feel confident to hit on a woman without the fear that she might be straight. 

Despite the waning number of lesbian bars, The Lesbian Bar Project’s efforts prove the vitality of the lesbian community, showing that they won’t let their spaces be eradicated.

And as long as things go as planned, The Cubbyhole Bar hopes to reopen in March, and Rose can’t wait to join her friends and her community to celebrate the bar’s rebellion.

“I always believe that queer women are the most loyal audience,” said Rose. “If you give us something…we will show up.”

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With bars now serving drinks to go, part of the “new normal” people have been referencing since the start of Covid-19 now includes being able to drink on the streets, police not doing anything but asking partiers to move to the sidewalk when nine pm rolled around.

Now that phase one of reopening has commenced, the vice grip of fear Covid-19 had on the city seems almost a thing of the past, at least for the people on East Ninth street over the weekend. Hardly anyone wore a mask, and some even went as far as to harass reporters who were there covering the reopening for wearing one.

People gather outside of Miss Lily’s in the East Village. Photo by Thomas Hengge

A person on a bike make their way through the crowd on East Ninth Street. Photo by Thomas Hengge

People gather and drink outside Bua in the East Village. Photo by Thomas Hengge

Police arrive to break up the gathering on East Ninth Street. Photo by Thomas Hengge

A police officer talks with a person at the gathering on East Ninth Street. Photo by Thomas Hengge

People make way for a bus to pass through the crowd on East Ninth Street. Photo by Thomas Hengge

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And every business that deals with tourism are on the front lines of  the fight.

Fortaleza Suites in Old San Juan will not allow guests to put their belongings at the front desk. 

“We ask guests to have their IDs and wallets ready when they check in,” said Elizabeth Nolasco, 24, a receptionist at Fortaleza Suites. “We don’t let people take out their stuff and put it on the front desk while they search in their bag. If they need to open their bags, we ask them to do it outside.”

The hotel staff said they work for tourism, but they can’t sustain their business if the virus overwhelms the island. 

“This is more dangerous than the earthquake and Hurricane Maria,” said a hotel housekeeper as she scrubbed the floor on her hands and knees. 

La Fortaza Suites is a hotel in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo by Shanila Kabir

The Dreamcatcher Hotel in San Juan changed their hospitality services to keep their employees and guests safe. 

“We used to have a communal space with lotion and sunscreen for our guests and we will never offer these services again,” said Andrea Otero, 24, manager of the Dreamcatcher Hotel. “We have improved our health measures on everything. The housekeepers work longer hours and we restock towels and kitchen supplies more often instead of reusing them.”

According to NBC News, three out of the five confirmed cases on the island were tourists.

“The virus will make its first steps here in a hotel,” said Otero. “People who are infected interact with other guests and the locals.”

She said the host position at the hotel has been discontinued.

“Our goal right now is to limit those numbers,” she said.

Jordan Acosta, 23, the chef at the Dreamcatcher who runs their vegetarian/vegan restaurant  created a new menu to try and strengthen the guests immune system. 

“Health precautions and dietary changes are two ways our hotel is combatting this,” said Acosta. “I only prepare meals that will boost people’s immune systems. In case one of our guests has the disease, the ginger and coconut in my food will make she/he healthier faster and that can save hundreds of lives.”

The Dreamcatcher Hotel has a vegetarian/vegan restaurant. Their new menu aims to boost guests immune system during the coronavirus outbreak. Photo by Shanila Kabir

Restaurant workers at Cueva Del Mar are requiring customers to sanitize their hands at the host’s table before being seated. 

“We sanitize everything, if it is not molded down, we deep clean it,” said Luis Sanchez-Longo, 24, a server at Cueva Del Mar “We used to have ketchup bottles at the table and now we serve sauces in small plastic cups. Small sanitation methods will make a difference. We even wash our menus before and after they’re used.”

Uber drivers are also taking precautions. Recently Uber  suspended its pool service.  Drivers are also  limiting contact with riders. 

“I don’t help anyone with their luggage,” said Goma Alberino, 27, an Uber driver. “I disinfect my car after each stop and ask passengers to grab one of my sanitizing wipes before getting in.”

Alberino has even declined giving rides to passengers that look sick.

“The slightest cough makes me turn down rides,” said Alberino. “I can’t take the risk of driving a sick person to an area with a sensitive population. This is a responsibility of anyone working during this time.”

There are about 200,000 cases of Coronavirus globally and  close to  8,000 deaths.

There are 17 potential cases of Covid-19 on the island.

Governor Wanda Vazquez implemented a 9 to 5 curfew Sunday and a two-week shutdown of most businesses until March 30. 

“This is bigger than me and my job, said John Santana, 25, a bartender at Acapulco Mexican Restaurant. “I know many people who are still recovering from the earthquake and now they have to worry about this new disease. I can go without money for two weeks if it means I’m helping anyone who needs to be protected.” 

Puerto Rico will survive this, he said.

“There will be always be visitors here. This is paradise,” said Santana. “But we have to do what it takes to make sure we are safe living in paradise.”

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From mouthwatering sausage and pepperoni pies to blazing garlic parmesan chicken wings, New York City bars and restaurants are prepping to satisfy the thirst and appetites of hungry football fans this Sunday when the New York Giants take on the New England Patriots for the Super Bowl XLVI.

“I like the Super Bowl, it’s crazy,” said pizza maker Danny Asitimbay of Fat Sal’s Pizza on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. “I have no time to watch the play because it’s busy here, but I’m working hard.”

This year, specials at Fat Sal’s include a large pie and 10 wings for $21 or, for wings only fans, a bucket of 40 wings for under $26. Asitimbay, who has been working in the pizza business for the past seven years, said Fat Sal’s usually sells up to 2,000 wings on Super Bowl weekend alone. He added that the wings served at the pizzeria are “always fresh, never frozen,” and that extra ingredients had to be bought in order to prepare for the second biggest eating day of the year, following Thanksgiving.

Chicken wings take the spotlight as the most popular game-day food. According to a report from the National Chicken Council (NCC), Americans are expected to eat 1.25 billion chicken wings – 100 million pounds – this weekend.

By noon on Saturday, Atomic Wings already had 50 pre-orders for Sunday’s game.

“We regularly sell six to eight cases of wings a day,” said owner Christopher Lyn. “But for the Super Bowl, we’ll sell around 100 cases of wings – a substantial amount.”

With around 250 wings in each case, Lyn projects around 25,000 wings will be sold and devoured by consumers during the biggest wing-eating day of the year, despite a price increase on poultry. The NCC said wing prices always surge during the year’s fourth quarter, when eateries start to prepare for the Super Bowl.

Lyn added that the Giants, being from the Empire State, would impact Sunday’s sales because “we’re in a New York market.”

But while pizza and wings may be on the minds of most Americans this year, bars are also expecting a business boost. On Friday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg temporarily renamed Brady’s Bar in uptown Manhattan to Manning’s for the weekend, declaring it “the luckiest bar in New York City,” just as he did when the two teams battled on the gridiron in 2008.

“If I wasn’t going to be in Indianapolis, I would be spending my Sunday afternoon where I think a lot of you should spend it, and that is here at Manning’s,” Bloomberg said.

Owner Dan Brady, an avid Giants fan, said yesterday that altering the name of the bar is a fun change.

“We did it four years ago, and everybody loved it,” he said. “Everybody finds it to be a great thing. Hopefully it’ll bring the Giants good luck.”

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