Prior to the pandemic, the Cubbyhole had stayed open for 27 years. Narrator/Executive Producer Lea DeLaria stands outside of NYC’s Cubbyhole. On June 3rd, the Lesbian Bar Project, championed by Jägermeister, released a 20-minute documentary directed by Erica Rose and Elina Street and narrated/executive produced by Orange is the New Black’s Lea DeLaria. In November of 2020, the Lesbian Bar Project partnered with #SaveTheNight - Jägermeister’s global initiative to support and reinvent nightlife - and released a PSA and fundraising effort to benefit the still existing lesbian bars in the United States and help them operate and thrive through these tough times.Ī new fundraising effort has been launched along with new media for the entire month of Pride. While nightclubs and social-focused foodservice venues were fighting to stay alive, bars for marginalized groups were hit even harder. Restaurants that leveraged atmosphere and ambiance were now challenged with quickly pivoting to takeout. She’s eager to see people mingling again, various generations of queer folks exchanging stories, phone numbers and sipping cocktails in New York’s longest-living lesbian bar.Everyone knows the foodservice industry was hit hard by pandemic struggles. “Inclusivity isn’t even a decision, it’s a reflex,” she says. In the vein of inclusivity, she emphasizes that Henrietta’s isn’t solely a lesbian bar, but a “queer-human bar” where everyone is welcome. Now, Henrietta’s sidewalk - and soon, its interior - will be the place to be, Cannistraci promises. “It’s a safer climate now for everyone in the queer community, but if Biden wasn’t elected, I’m not sure I’d open out on the street. “Thank God I was open then,” Cannistraci says. Cannistraci also kept the bar open on weekdays to host community events like The L Word trivia nights, “dyke karaoke,” and dance parties to benefit SAGE, which supports LGBTQ elders via social services. People needed community, and people of all marginalized sexualities and genders would pack the dance floor into the early hours of the morning. Business increased year after year in the Trump era, and 2019 was the busiest year ever for Henrietta Hudson, thanks, in part, to New York City’s World Pride. “I felt really bad, but I knew my bar was going to be so busy, there would be lines outside, because people were afraid and people ran back into those safe spaces,” she explains. Trump may have been bad for America, but Cannistraci says she knew he’d be good for Henrietta’s. The years following meant queer bars, usually lesbian bars, were shuttering across the nation, leaving roughly two dozen open when the 2016 election occurred. Being visible as a gay couple at a restaurant or bar, especially in progressive cities like New York, no longer felt taboo, and meeting a queer partner no longer required spending time in the same dedicated safe spaces. “I had to hustle, and I had to make my business more interesting.” As gay marriage became law, acceptance for same-sex couples increased. “I worked on marriage equality, knowing it would be bad for business,” Cannistraci says, chatting in her recently renovated apartment above her bar, where she has lived for decades.
In 2021, queer visibility in Manhattan may not seem radical, but opening an al fresco lesbian bar in the same spot where windows have traditionally been draped to avoid curious (and potentially violent) passersby signifies a major shift in queer culture’s entrance into the mainstream. Reservations will be available on Resy starting May 21.Īnd the most noticeable change is its most visible: a custom-designed parklet, built in New Jersey and transported to Hudson St.
After a 15-month closure, made possible by a generous agreement with Cannistraci’s landlord and a $43,000 crowdfunding campaign, Cannistraci decided to enact a new era for Henrietta’s, pulling expertise from sommelier, mixologist, and restaurateur friends. But keeping one of America’s last lesbian bars - a recent count puts the total number at just 15 nationwide - in business is certainly a form of activism. She always considered herself an activist first and an entrepreneur second. “Now we’re Cher - the lesbian bar that wouldn’t die.”Ĭannistraci never planned to get into the bar business. “We used to be known as the Madonna of lesbian bars because we were constantly reinventing ourselves,” says Henrietta’s owner, Lisa Cannistraci. After being shut since March 2020, Henrietta’s (as it’s often referred to) will open with an outdoor parklet, followed by a completely redone interior, nearly unrecognizable to the thousands of patrons who’ve danced inside the dark club since it debuted 1991. New York City’s population of open lesbian bars is about to double with the re-opening of Henrietta Hudson, the city’s longest-standing gay bar. Lisa Cannistraci has revamped her iconic bar - and included an outdoor “parklet.”