Gay latin night nyc

History

Following the Stonewall uprising of , three members of New York’s gay Latino community became interested in opening a nightclub. Unable to obtain a liquor license, c. , they first operated a social club on Broadway across from Lincoln Center. La Escuelita’s name derives from its location in the building’s basement below a language school, escuela in Spanish, coupled with the employ of diminutives by Puerto Ricans when giving directions. Patrons told others the club was located under the “little language school.”

The club was closed by the police after a few years and moved further uptown to the Hotel Lucerne at 79th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The owners acquired a liquor license, and it was here where La Escuelita’s now iconic drag shows began. The club lasted at the Hotel Lucerne for a year before moving to a location on West 48th Street for about six months.

In the late s, La Escuelita moved to Eighth Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen, near the Port Authority, in a downstairs space that was formerly a bowling alley. The building’s entrance,