Greenwich ave gay bars 1980w

Text-to-speech Audio. Another view of the bar's entrance. Vernon Kroening, one of the victims of the attack. The Stonewall Rebellion in June of was triggered by years of police harassment of patrons of the Stonewall Inn. Though it grew out of the frustrations of the patrons of that particular place, the rebellion had ramifications far beyond the bar itself.

In the years following the rebellion, the area around Christopher Street, where the Stonewall is located, became the nexus of gay life in the city. The West Village, particularly the western end of Christopher Street and several blocks along West Street, gay bars and clubs proliferated in an area that had long been home to seedy waterfront bars and seaman dives.

For at time, from tothe Ramrod, a leather bar, was one of the most popular establishments in the area. Located on small, insignificant streets that were largely hidden from view by the now-demolished Miller Elevated Highway, the neighborhoods offered privacy and safety to a community that was still somewhat underground.

Many objected to the film's portrayal of gay men as violent and sex-obsessed and residents of the area did what they could to prevent the filming, including blasting loud music near the sets. The production went ahead and in the months following the film's release, there were a number of violent homophobic attacks.

One of the worst, although it is little remembered today, occurred at the Ramrod.

Memories of extinct NYC gay bars

On November 28,a former transit authority cop named Ronald Crumpley shot and injured two men outside a deli on Washington and Charles Streets, then made his way to West Street, where he fired 40 rounds from an Uzi into a crowd gathered outside the Ramrod. Several men were injured and Vernon Kroening died at the scene.

Jorg Wenz, who worked as a doorman at the bar, died hours later at St. Vincent's Hospital. Crumpley died in a psychiatric hospital in Though the attack on the Ramrod is not well remembered outside of Greenwich Village, residents have never forgotten the event. Coming as it did shortly after the election of Ronald Reagan and a Republican takeover of the US Senate, the attack felt like an ominous harbinger of things to come.

The city's gay community would soon face a different, but no less grave threat; weeks after the attack, the New York Times would report on the strange, "rare cancer" afflicting homosexual men. The Ramrod closed permanently following the attack. DunlapDavid. June 15th Accessed October 10th Dunlap, David. July 1st Appman, Sarah Bean.

January 11th BaileyJason.