"regular gay"s have plenty of palces to hang out. Unicorn, anyone? Besides, I wouldn't want to piss off some of those pier queens on Christopher St. Bitch will cut you.

let's face it; the previous owners were willing to resort to anything to keep the place viable. The fact that the gayborhood is now filled with voilent trannies and others has little to do with the parties held there and more to do with their being disenfranchised and pitched back below 10 avenue once midnight's reached and the cops want the piers cleared.

If we who live and pay dearly to do so, do not make room for them in a viable way... They'll be back and yes "bitch will cut you"

C'mon guys, there's room for everybody. That's why we faught in the first place.

Lex. The previous owners didn't really resort to anything. It was the venue that they chose and it was a bad choice. That "snipe" from the Duplex owner aside. The Stomewall was VERY VERY badly managed. And the venue that they chose couldn't pay the bills. They didn't make enough money to continue to keep operating. Nobody purposly closed (as much as some of their neighbors would have LOVED) face it. in the middle of sheraton square with The Monster across the Street, The Duplex next to it, and various trendy Restaurants and shops the old venue was bound to be doomed.

you snark about Morgan supposedly wanting "white affluent queens". uh, doesn't this describe queerty to a tee? unless you've been hiding something, i assume none of your employees are street savvy ethnic youth. don't be so blatantly PC for PC's sake. it's so unattractive in a angertwink.

Maybe now I'll actually revisit the place. Last time I was there it looked like chicken hawks dream. The placed was filled with underage rough. It was not a fun place to hang out at.

I saw that movie Stonewall once and it was totally awesome.

Bill Morgan from the Duplex here.

Once again with its usual integrity the Observer, given no information by me due to their heinous misquotation in their earlier article, resorted to their apparently usual tactic of "reporting" based on rumor and no actual research. I explained to Mr. Shott that I would not dignify his disreputable publication after having been wrongly attributed bigoted quotes in a past article. He, no surprise, omitted that from his "report" and having nothing to go on linked the past ugly inaccuracy to his sorry 5 line blurb as a spite for my refusal to comment.

I then challenged him, after viewing his blurb, to include that the reason why neither I nor Tony DeCicco would provide comment to his irresponsible inaccurate and disreputable rag was for the above stated reason. That revision has yet to surface and my response post to the article has yet to appear.

I'm not sure of the true nature of the Observer's bias against the West Village and why they insist on perpetuating such a negative picture of the community and me in particular. Perhaps they get some kind of perverse satisfaction from it or perhaps having sub-par "reporters" on board requires them to make stories if they cannot find them even if damaging the reputation of individuals, entire neighborhoods and the gay community is the cost.

It is truly sad that in an attempt to save an historic establishment in our community with all the months of effort, commitment and terrific expense involved, that someone with no connection to the community would choose to so irresponsibly sour what is an otherwise celebratory effort.

The Stonewall is a haven for all people in our community. It always has been and always will be as long as I have anything to say about it.

Sad that the Observer doesn't care to print that but then - that would be accurate reporting and who wants that?

Original Stonewall Inn saved by gay developers

12th January 2007 11:48am
Tony Grew

PinkNews.co.uk exclusive
A community effort spearheaded by three gay businessmen in Manhattan's West Village has saved the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement.

In June 1969, the denizens of Manhattan’s run-down Stonewall Inn finally stood up for their rights and rioted, tired of years of police harassment.

The events of those sultry summer nights ignited a power-keg, and the explosion was heard around the world.

Within 12 months there were gay rights movements organising and protesting across the globe.

The venue where it all began has seen many changes. Not least in its surroundings.

For what was once a refuge for drag queens, drug dealers and other outcasts has become a gentrified New York neighbourhood.

In recent times the Stonewall Inn has fallen on hard times, but PinkNews.co.uk can exclusively reveal that three gay entrepreneurs are at the centre of a successful campaign to save the bar.

Bill Morgan and Tony DeCicco, who own the Duplex bar in the West Village, along with village fixture Kurt Kelly, were moved to act when they heard about the imminent closure of the Inn.

Bill Morgan told PinkNews.co.uk what happened next.

"We spoke with the landlord and let them know that we were interested in keeping the Stonewall as it has such an important place in both the West Village and in gay rights history.

"While negotiating with the landlord we were simultaneously seeking out investors. We weren’t sure at the beginning if anyone would be interested.

"While the Stonewall is an historic site, the place had been allowed to fall into disrepair in the last several years and the clientele had fallen off.

"The club had been mismanaged and had become a 'bad neighbour' in the community due to excessive noise, underage people being served and after-hours business being conducted."

Mr Morgan appealed to New Yorkers for help to save this historic site, and was overwhelmed by the response.

"When we went looking for investors to save The Stonewall people came out of the woodwork. Gay and straight.

"Everyone recognised the potential loss to the community both here and the gay community worldwide.

"A few of the investors have been volunteering their time and labour to defray the cost of renovating."

The bar had changed hands several times since the riots of 1969. The Village itself has undergone a slow but permanent transformation from dive to desirable.

Now the gay community has succeeded in scrubbing up the Stonewall Inn. Bill Morgan seems to have taken a very gay delight at renovating the historic venue.

"The walls on the main floor were covered in a shiny chrome sheeting known as diamond plate. That was covering up the old raised wood panelling.

"The beautiful wooden bar was painted a garish green and gold. There was every kind of electrical and speaker wire you can imagine snaking everywhere along the old original tin ceiling.

"Holes in the roof where water had poured in and subsequently caved in the bathroom ceiling. You get the idea," he told PinkNews.co.uk

Other prominent gay New Yorkers have also lent a hand, "We have enlisted the services of designer Michael Longo who has a long history with the Village and Stonewall and has designed several other bars in the past.

"He is bringing fresh innovative ideas to the space that will help improve the look and feel of it while making the guests aware that they are in an historic spot. It is really very exciting."

The best efforts of Mr Morgan and others have revitalised the Stonewall Inn. And as for the accusations that the Village is now too gentrified to truly be a home for the whole gay community, Mr Morgan dismisses such concerns.

"The Monster, a club across the street from Stonewall does a thriving business catering to an equally diverse crowd and has nothing but great reviews from the neighbourhood because they run their business in a way that respects others in the neighbourhood.

"The Village is born of diversity. It is why I work here. It is why gay people sought the Village out to begin with. To imply that the Village residents or members of the gay community are discriminating against others based on ethnicity is nonsense.

"It wasn’t true back in the day and it’s not true now. It is a very live and let live attitude here. All the residents ask is that their quality of life to be respected."

Pending the approval of a liquor licence, the Stonewall Inn should be opening its doors for business on February 1st.

MY NAME IS DARIUS FROWNER AND I HAVE BEEN A PIANIST AT THE DUPLEX FOR FIFTEEN YEARS. I AM ALSO AN AFRICAN AMERICAN GAY MALE. BILL MORGAN IS ONE OF THE OWNERS OF THE DULPEX , AND PART OF THE TEAM RE OPENING THE STONEWALL.
BILL MORGANS COMMENT ABOUT THE ELEMENT AT THE STONEWALL BEFORE IT CLOSED BEING MORE OR LESS UNDESIRABLE IS TRUE. I OFTEN SAW LOUD, TACKY (SOMETIMES UNDERAGE )PEOPLE THERE. NOT TO MENTION LOTS OF GUYS WITH BEYONCE WEAVES.OFTEN THE POLICE WOULD HAVE TO BE CALLED BECAUSE OF FIGHTS THAT SPILLED INTO THE STREET. TO NOT WANT THAT TYPE OF CLIENTELE IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY RACIST OR ELITIST.
IN MY OPINION THE "RACIST" ATTITUDE COMES FROM THE WRITER OF THE OBSERVER ARTICLE WHO DOESNT SEEM TO KNOW OR CARE TO DISTINGUISH THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BLACK CUSTOMERS AND CROWDS. THAT OLD STONEWALL CROWD WAS NOTHING TO DEFEND. THERE ARE OTHER PLACES WHERE THE CLIENTELE IS BLACK AND THE SCENE IS NOTHING LIKE THAT.
KNOWING BILL MORGAN FOR YEARS, IM SURE THAT WHAT HE MEANS IS A NEW CLIENTELE WOULD BE CERTAINLY BE WELCOMED , BLACK, WHITE OR ANYONE THATS DECENT, JUST LIKE ANY GOOD ESTABLISHMENT WOULD WELCOME. A LOT OF THOUGHT AND WORK IS GOING INTO HOW TO MAKE THE STONEWALL A GREAT PLACE THAT HONORS GAY HISTORY AND HAVE IT BE INCLUSIVE.
LETS GIVE THE NEW STONEWALL A CHANCE TO BECOME WHAT IT CAN, AND KEEP IT SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF.