The Cock

The Cock is a gay bar in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is noted for its exhibitionist atmosphere and popularity as a cruising destination. Described as "a rarified taste of old New York and the cruisy gay scene that existed [there] in the '80s and '90s",[1] the venue experienced frequent police raids in the late 1990s and early 2000s under Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The bar has relocated twice, and its 2015 move up Second Avenue was initially met with community opposition.

For the sign in London, see The Cock sign. For other uses, see Cock (disambiguation).

The Cock
Entrance to The Cock, bearing the bar's logo
Address93 2nd Avenue
LocationEast Village, Manhattan, New York, US
Coordinates40°43′37.8″N 73°59′20.3″W
Public transit
OwnerAllan Mannarelli
TypeGay bar
Opened1998 (1998)

Description

The Cock is one of a few remaining cruising spaces in New York City, and photography is prohibited inside.[1] The bar consists of two levels, with the basement serving as a dark room.[1][2] New York magazine describes the venue as having "a rollicking backroom sex scene".[3] The bar's street presence is minimal, marked only by a neon sign of a rooster.[1] It is owned by Allan Mannarelli, a straight proprietor who also operates Albion, a bar in Kips Bay, and who used to manage Superdive, a now-closed establishment in the East Village.[1][4][5]

History
Interior of The Cock, 2013

The Cock opened in 1998, originally situated on Avenue A in Manhattan.[3] Since then, it has relocated twice—most recently in 2015, when it moved to its present Second Avenue location.[1][2][4] In its early years, the venue hosted exhibitionist shows organized by promoter Mario Diaz. According to New York magazine, "[the] sordid acts and general carefree air ... [attracted] not only horny young men but also plenty of spectacle-seeking celebrities," including Christina Aguilera, Boy George and George Michael.[3] The bar was raided often during Rudy Giuliani's tenure as mayor of New York City, sometimes as frequently as twice per week.[1][3] It was temporarily shuttered in 2000 for being a public nuisance.[3] After the business reopened, it ran into legal trouble when patrons continued to smoke indoors after the 2003 statewide smoking ban, but its only formal citation was dismissed.[1][3]

Mannarelli attempted to move The Cock to Avenue B in 2014, but the local community board rejected his application after learning that the venue would offer "drag shows, 'art performances,' and meat pies".[4] The following year, The Cock successfully relocated up Second Avenue, into a space formerly occupied by a bar called the Lit Lounge.[2][4][6] This move was met with resistance by the East Fifth Street Block Association, which opposed new venues in the nightlife-saturated neighborhood, and the locale's community board, which attempted to block the bar's liquor license.[4][6]

In the 2010s, The Cock was managed by Nashom Wooden, a fixture of the New York City nightlife scene who performed in drag as Mona Foot and was a member of the Ones.[7] Wooden also worked there as a bartender.[8] During the same period, pornographic actor Boomer Banks began his career as a go-go dancer at the bar.[9]

Reception
In the midst of all this corporate sterility, The Cock stands out like a precarious red light in a city without a red light district.... It is a distinctly European-feeling space.

–Alexander Cheves, them. magazine[1]

Of The Cock's current location, New York magazine says, "Despite the new space, [the bar] retains its penchant for irony-laced depravity: A young and young-acting crowd swells appropriately for a variety of theme parties, with go-go dancers and DJs every night."[10] Alexander Cheves of them. magazine called the venue "the last filthy gay bar in New York", and he stated, "[T]here is — alarmingly — no other bar like it in the city and very few bars like it left in the country."[1] In a list titled "The Absolute Best Gay Bar[s] in Manhattan", Mike Albo of GrubStreet.com ranked The Cock second with the following remark: "Rough-edged, covered in band stickers, and carved with little weird nooks and dark corners, this place is like a filthy, seductive, alluring alleyway."[11] Time Out magazine writes that The Cock "is just the sort of dark, sketchy dive where you can unleash your inner sexy beast. The dearth of uptown attitude (or any apparent concern for cleanliness) pulls artists, musicians, writers, fashionistos [sic], tourists and closeted rebels, all of whom can appreciate a little dirty fun."[12] Politico called The Cock "the neighborhoods [sic] most notorious gay bar".[5]

gollark: Why do you need a CB red?
gollark: I'm probably diverting views from eggs more in need, slightly, but it means that they basically always hatch.
gollark: I, personally, leave my eggs until 5 or 6 days then put them in all the hatcheries on the "list of active fansites".
gollark: I think you need about 400 UniqueViews to hatch a normal egg.
gollark: Oh, that one.

See also

References
  1. Cheves, Alexander (February 21, 2020). "Good Weird Queer Bar: The Cock Is the Last Filthy Gay Bar in New York". them. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  2. Maurer, Daniel (December 10, 2015). "The Cock Slips Into Lit's Old Home, Gets 'Bigger, Longer, Harder'". Bedford+Bowery. Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  3. Kennedy, Sean (June 17, 2005). "Last Call at the Cock". New York. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  4. Maurer, Daniel (August 14, 2015). "The Cock Is Moving into Lit's Old Space, 'Will Prevail' Against Naysayers". Bedford + Bowery. Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  5. Laskow, Sarah (November 29, 2010). "Fast times on Avenue A: The life and death of Superdive". Politico. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  6. Arino, Lisha (August 18, 2015). "Community Board Blocks The Cock from Moving into Former Lit Lounge Space". DNAinfo. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  7. Dalton, Paisley (October 28, 2015). "Mx Qwerrrk Gets Turnt Up and Out at The Cock NYC…OINK!!!". The WOW Report. World of Wonder Productions, Inc. Archived from the original on October 31, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  8. Bernstein, Jacob (March 24, 2020). "Nashom Wooden, Downtown Denizen, Is Dead at 50". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  9. theStreamtv (January 19, 2015). "Boomer Banks on Hey Qween! with Jonny McGovern" (YouTube video). 11:40 minutes in. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  10. "The Cock". New York. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  11. Albo, Mike (May 13, 2016). "The Absolute Best Gay Bar in Manhattan". GrubStreet.com. New York Media. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  12. "The Cock". Time Out. June 29, 2018. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.