rundown

I went to NYCity the previous weekend and forgot I had written this rundown of the bars I visited during my 72 hours there.

Friday - Met Starbucks for drinks at Barracuda and chilled for an hour while taking in the sights. Personally, I liked the old decor with the plastic-toilet-looking-things above the bar. Now it looks more like a lodge. The men were nice looking and the boys were ... really young.

We walked down toward g lounge and quickly got lost. We decided to ask a friendly New Yorker for directions and this guy told us we walked down too far. Starbucks was stunned by his beauty and was uncharacteristically speechless. g’s a beautiful bar and the lay out is conducive to scoping all the men (over and over again if you're lapping). The major differences from my previous visits there were that the boys were less chiseled and muscular and were holding more beer bottles than cosmos or martinis.

We always seem to end up at the Cock (five dollar cover, but worth it) where city ordinances are taken as suggestions. Arrived at 2:30 and the place was overflowing with hotties. The music, as always, was fun, funky, and eclectic. Witnessed the funniest fight ever ... gay boys shouldn’t participate in fist fights, it’s not pretty. And I can’t say the boys are shy; I chatted with several before heading to my room with a view.

Saturday - We decided to try Caliente at Flamingo East on 14th and 2nd but I nixed the idea after waiting fifteen minutes for Starbucks to arrive. No one went in and no one came out the whole time I was there (where did the smokers go?). The guide suggested there’d be a cover ... next.

Instead, we hopped over to Dicks to reformulate our plan. I used to live on 13th between 3rd and 2nd and would frequent Dicks for drinks before heading to other bars. We found a listing in Homo Xtra for Habib, an Arab Gay Bar in the Meat District. Why not? Jumped in a cab and made our way west. Fifteen dollar cover and hardly anyone walking in or out ... that’s why not.

Crossed the avenue and went to xl instead - no cover – woo hoo! The boys were fun, yet annoying at the same time. Easy to look at but not very pleasant when they pushed through you (excuse me was not in their dictionary). They have the prettiest boys working behind the bar, but I noticed a lack of ink on any of them (tattooed bartenders don't make good drinks?).

We then headed to Boys Party on A & 1st (there was a cover, but the margaritas at xl made this acceptable). They were having an American Go-Go Idol Contest. I went out on a limb and decided the only naked boy on the bar, jerking a rather long appendage, would win the $300 pot. Surprise, surprise! I had a lot of fun there listening to the music and watching the various porn videos. The crowd was dancing up a storm on the lower level which is barrel vaulted and covered in neon chalk graffiti. Left Starbucks about 4 AM and went back to my room to sleep.

Sunday - Back to Boys Party (five dollar cover) because someone told Starbucks on Saturday that this bar was just like the Cock on Sundays. I arrived just after midnight, purchased a Corona, and settled back to take it in. There were two very nice looking (and one not so nice) tight bodied Latin boys dancing on the bar. The first floor was crowded with buff Brothers and Latinos, but only four boys were hanging out downstairs. A black velvet curtain toward the front of the bar hid the gay-tivities. I stayed all of fifteen minutes because I couldn’t get into the soul and rap music they were playing.

Why go to something like the Cock on Sundays when the real thing is just a few streets away? Walked to Cock, happily paid my ten dollar cover, and immediately felt at home. The music, again, was fun, funky, and eclectic, the crowd consisted various East Village types, and the gay-tivities were visibly hidden behind a translucent plastic tarp. I chilled for a few hours near the front while shoving singles in the very healthy dancer's g-string before heading back to the hotel.

I had a great time hanging out with Starbucks, I met many cute boys, and I look forward to coming up again and maybe going behind the curtain.