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N.Y. Scene March 2010: Pantyhos, Hey Queen!, Eden, Stiletto, and Winter Heat

N.Y. scene is a monthly column that chronicles lesbian nightlife and events of interest in New York. Grace Chu has come out of lesbian scene retirement to navigate the vast and ever-evolving New York City scene, so you don’t have to.

For the beginning, we will start at the end. Last month, Pantyhos, the party New York Magazine dubbed “the original Williamsburg art-dyke dance party,” closed its doors. Four years ago, Pantyhos planted its tattoos, retro haircuts, DIY attitude and penchant for Sapphic debauchery in the middle of the artsy but generally un-queer mess of former industrial buildings turned galleries near the L train known as Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Over the years, it inspired and helped spawn a thriving scene of edgy and underground dyke parties packed wall to wall with artists, punks. retro-femmes, fashion-forward bois, a smattering of gay boys, fierce transmen (and the occasional very confused British straight boy tourist who is just not sure what he walked into).

“What? Williamsburg?” you say incredulously. True. In the vast and multi-flavored bouillabaisse known as the New York City lesbian scene, the neighborhood of Williamsburg is often overlooked. Williamsburg is more often associated with emaciated straight white kids who proclaim to be artists but fail to produce any actual art and bored faux-radicalized students who feel that guerilla protests against the proliferation of deep v-necks are a worthy cause. Yep, Williamsburg is hipster land. No one will actually admit to being a hipster, but the Williamsburg hipster element is obvious to anyone who has taken the L train east of the 1st and 14th subway stop in Manhattan.

Wait, am I getting a little ahead of you? How about a quick primer. The New York City scene can be divided into two main camps: the Manhattan scene and the Brooklyn scene, each with its fierce proponents, and in many cases, partygoers of the scene in one borough will be completely oblivious that a lesbian scene in the other borough even exists. However, even the most die-hard Manhattanite has heard rumors that the neighborhood of Park Slope in Brooklyn (known jokingly as “Dyke Slope”) is an especially lesbian friendly area.

But Willamsburg? Although parties catering to lesbians have sprouted like weeds in Williamsburg in the last couple of years, no one seems to be shouting from the rooftops that dykes should be flocking en masse to Williamsburg, and to be honest, I think the patrons of these underground parties would like to keep it that way. Said a Pantyhos attendee who would like to remain anonymous, “We do not go to the Manhattan lez nightlife. Absolutely no Henrietta [Hudson], and let’s be real, we aren’t going to Ginger’s Bar [in Park Slope] either.”

Our anonymous friend described the crowd at Pantyhos as “mostly mid-20’s to mid-30’s artists, punks, and hipsters… even though no one wants to be identified as a hipster! The crowd here is mostly lesbian though not limited to butch and femme. There is a big andro crowd and tons of hot trans guys. You are going to find a lot of neckerchiefs, tapered skinny jeans, tattoos, and plaid shirts.” I noted that quite a few attendees were rocking the oversized black plastic glasses look.

During its run, Pantyhos featured many emerging DJs and artists. The party helped break Brooklyn-based hip-hop/pop group OMG Michelle, who still returned to their roots to grace the stage at Pantyhos even after they blew up in the New York City music scene and the national queer music scene.

“Well, thanks a whole f—ing lot, Grace!” you say. “You inform us about this party after it is over!” So Pantyhos has already taken its last bow. Where should New York lesbians into the art-punk dyke scene head to?

According to our tipster and other patrons, the most similar party to Pantyhos is Hey Queen!, held every third Friday at Sugarland in Williamsburg and organized by an eclectic queer trio: Scout, Amy Agony, and Sarah Jenny. Described as a “monthly multi-gendered dance party,” the party “exists in the same spirit of Pantyhos.” “Also,” added another anonymous tipster, “although the crowd at Hey Queen! is mostly queer women, you will see quite a few gay and queer men.” Like Pantyhos, Hey Queen! also features an eclectic mix of underground artists and DJs.

Word has it that at Hey Queen!’s last party on March 19th, the Pantyhos crowd simply migrated over and made it their new digs.

Other Williamsburg parties include Gayface at the East River Bar, Who-ha at Trophy Bar, and Rumours at Public Assembly. Another Brooklyn party that was given an enthusiastic thumbs up by Pantyhos partygoers is That’s My Jam, a racially diverse monthly queer party held in the lesbian capital of Park Slope.

And now we leave the quirky and artsy Williamsburg, Brooklyn and head across the East River to the sleek and upscale gayborhood of Chelsea, where Manhattan’s top lesbian promoter Maggie C. has recently moved her flagship weekly lesbian party, Eden.

Maggie C. started Eden in 2007, after she returned to New York from Los Angeles and realized that there was a dearth of options for the cosmopolitan and mainstream lesbian crowd. After she launched Eden, almost immediately, women wearing makeup and heels — not in the Bettie Page vintage retro-femme sense, but in the modern upscale “I just rolled out of my corporate job in Midtown and I need a caipirinha” cosmo-femme sense – streamed through its doors like finding an oasis after stumbling through the desert known as the New York City lesbian scene. (After all, walking on sand in heels is a bitch.)

Let’s be honest. The silent majority of well-heeled lesbians in Manhattan is virtually indistinguishable from our straight counterparts, but only a few short years ago, although the city has always been teeming with cosmo-femmes, finding another one was as likely as finding a golden ticket to the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. There was even an underlying sense that it was un-P.C. and unlesbianlike to want such a thing.

The success of Eden proved that the demand for such a party not only existed but was extraordinarily high. Only a year after it launched, Eden garnered praise from New York Magazine, which billed it as the best lesbian party in the city in 2008 — and then again in 2009. Eden also captured a cover story in The Village Voice, “Triumph of the Lipstick Lesbians.”

Of course, any successful venture has its detractors. Maggie C. recalls an incident when she overheard a group of lesbians complaining about the Village Voice article. “I was having brunch with friends shortly after the story came out and overheard a group of lesbians completely tearing the piece apart and negating its relevance and importance to the lesbian community entirely. I believe they even used the word ‘destructive,'” she said.

“They argued that by glorifying a certain aspect of the community, i.e. the more glamorous, feminine types, that we offend all other types of lesbians who identify as butch or androgynous. They felt the article ultimately suggested that identifying as anything not ‘lipsticky’ was not ok. As someone who identifies mostly as a feminine lesbian both internally and aesthetically, I have felt at times as an outcast or not taken as seriously by members of my own community.” She then concluded, “I do believe that breaking stereotypes and widening the spectrum of diversity among gay women is revolutionary and triumphant in every way.” I wholeheartedly agree.

Eden has had several homes since its launch, but now it has taken up residence at The Gates, a semi-private club that was name-dropped on Gossip Girl. Although no one really knows what the “ambassador program” to get past its velvet ropes is about, every Wednesday night, The Gates throws its imposing brass exterior wide open to welcome a sizeable crowd of upscale lesbians who just want to let down their hair and dance.

I spoke to a few partygoers and asked them to suggest similar parties for the type of lesbian who frequents Eden. One woman, Andrea, suggested a party called Proposition, which is held at Slate Lounge every other Friday. Proposition, she said, “is full of beautiful, educated women like the ones at Eden, except it is held on the weekend, so the attendees are even more dressed to impress.”

Another lesbian night that was given praise by Eden-ites is another Maggie C. party, Stiletto, which is held every Sunday at the Maritime Hotel. During the chillier months, Stiletto is held at night, and during the summer, the party starts at 2pm with a lively brunch and ends at 10pm. The same well-heeled crowd that attends Eden attends Stiletto year-round.

I asked Maggie C. to compare the New York City scene to the L.A. Scene. About the L.A. scene, Maggie said, “I lived in L.A. from 2000-2006. I was very impressed with how many upscale events existed for women as well as the caliber of these events. The women who attended were fashionable and powerful though I did feel they were less approachable than women on the East Coast.”

As to the N.Y. scene, she said, “I’ve definitely noticed a big transformation within the NY lesbian nightlife in the last three years – there are some incredible women out there creating some pretty amazing opportunities in the nightlife and beyond. I think the NY scene has certainly caught up to LA in many aspects.”

Caught up? I’d like to direct everyone’s attention to the history page of L.A.’s renowned lesbian franchise Girl Bar, namely this: “After moving to L.A. from New York in the late 80’s, [Sandy] Sachs and [Robin] Gans recognized the need for an upscale nightclub catering to the lesbian community. In response to that demand, they launched a weekly event unlike anything else that had been done before. The concept was simple: to provide the most exciting events, in the most elegant of settings with the hottest women in town.”

Sound familiar? Thank you, L.A. for carrying on our tradition, but thanks to Maggie C., we’ve brought it back home.

Our last and final stop is the annual women’s event “Winter Heat,” a fundraising benefit for the Empire State Pride Agenda, which was held last Wednesday at BLVD in Manhattan. The Empire State Pride Agenda is New York’s statewide LGBT civil rights and advocacy organization, and its events are always packed with affluent and socially conscious members of the NYC LGBT community.

Most of its major fundraising events, such as the Fall Dinner, Spring Dinner and the Hamptons Tea Dance, are mixed gay and lesbian events, but Winter Heat is primarily a women’s event, and this year at Winter Heat, the ladies did not disappoint. New Yorkers are known to show up notoriously late to events, but by 9 pm it was a full house.

I spoke to event organizer Stephanie Berger about the organization’s main lobbying efforts this year, and she said that The Empire State Pride Agenda is working on three goals: marriage equality, and lobbying for the passage of the The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) and the Dignity for All Students Act.

GENDA is a bill that would outlaw discrimination in New York State based on gender identity and/or expression, and the Dignity for All Students Act is a bill pending in the state legislature that establishes an anti-bullying and discrimination policy for all New York’s public schools.

The crowd was age-diverse, with 50-somethings shaking it on the dance floor to Lady Gaga and Ke$ha with 20-somethings. One thing is for sure — New York lesbians, no matter what age, love a good party, and if it’s for a good cause, all the better.

This concludes the first installment of AfterEllen.com’s “NY Scene.” We’ve barely scratched the surface of the New York City lesbian scene. For every widely promoted lesbian party or event, there are at least five others that are not. Many are promoted word-of-mouth amongst those “in the know,” and some are only frequented by locals in a particular ‘hood. At Eden, when I introduced myself to Maggie C., she responded, “It’s about time AfterEllen.com covered events in NYC!” but now I understand the delay.

The New York City lesbian scene is a diverse and labyrinthian (hot) mess.Most small cities and large towns have one or two venues that cater to lesbians, but in New York, we have parties and events that cater to every type of lesbian imaginable, but sometimes you wouldn’t know it. The New York City events section of Go Magazine is a good resource if you’re looking for lesbian events in New York City. Whereas the NYC gay guy scene is well publicized to the general public, the New York City lesbian scene is just as vibrant and its parties are just as well-attended, but it takes a little more effort to navigate.

In the coming months, we will attempt to chip away at and make sense of the New York lesbian scene. Are you ready?

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