It's been almost a year and a half since the July 2010 closing of the Starlite Lounge, the oldest Black-owned LGBT bar in New York City and one of the oldest such bars in the nation. Two filmmakers are producing a documentary about about the now-shuttered historic lounge in Brooklyn, reports the NY Daily News.
Watch a trailer for the fim AFTER THE JUMP ...
I instantly fell in love with the bar,” said “Starlite” co-director Sasha Wortzel who was quickly drawn to the bar when she moved to Crown Heights four years ago. She soon found out the Starlite’s building had been bought by a new owner who was threatening to boot the bar, and started working with co-director Kate Kunath on what they expected to be a short film about the fight.
Instead, they got so wrapped up that they ended up shooting months of footage they’re now working on turning into a feature-length film, expected to be completed some time next year.
For more than 40 years, the location at 1086 Bergen Street in Brooklyn's Crown Heights was home to the Starlite Lounge. The Starlite had been a fixture since the 1960s and became a rite of passage for many black LGBT New Yorkers. More on its fascinating history:
The bar was founded in 1959 by Mackie Harris, one of New York’s first openly gay black entrepreneurs. "It’s pre-Stonewall. It’s the same decade [as\] Brown v. Board of Education," said Kunath, 35. "Especially in Crown Heights, having a safe place for the gay community is significant. Because there are so few places for this community to go, when Starlite was open, they came from all over. It went from being a neighborhood bar in the 50s and early 60s into being really an institution in the gay black community...There’s a whole culture and community that has been displaced."
The filmmakers and owners hosted a Starlite reunion earlier this month that drew hundreds of regulars. The owners are raising money on the website IndieGoGo and hope to find a space in Crown Heights to reopen.
The site of the legendary bar on Nostrand Avenue is now a Metro PCS store.
Donate HERE to support the docmentary.
Watch a trailer for the fim AFTER THE JUMP ...
The documentary should be fascinating. A venerable who's who of entertainment and Black gay culture visited the bar from Martha Wash to Andre Leon Tally. Starting in the mid 1970s, a trio of sisters tended bar at the Starlite. The Lenear Sisters opened their spacious Bed-Stuy brownstone to black LGBT youth who needed a place to crash. Their weekend-long New Year's Eve parties were legendary and Madonna even popped her head in once or twice. Fabulous times.
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STARLITE trailer from sasha wortzel on Vimeo.
I can't wait to see this.
Posted by: Wil | 21 December 2011 at 16:02
Cousin to the former Brass Rail in DC.
Posted by: Honut Sinti | 21 December 2011 at 17:48
Chi Chiz and Starlight Lounge ... How sad. What losses. Doc sounds wonderful!
Posted by: Account Deleted | 22 December 2011 at 07:39
Rod, this is what I posted on Facebook: 'As you all know, I've been posting about this film and agree with Rod McCullom, that it is worth seeing. I used the 'Starlite Lounge' as a pivotal scene in my novel, 'Leaving Gomorrah'. Hubby & I used to frequent the Starlite and will miss it. ARE BLACK 'GAY' BARS BECOMING EXTINCT? (Not counting 'black nights' at white 'gay' bars or 'gay night' at 'straight' bars.'
Posted by: Doug Cooper Spencer | 22 December 2011 at 20:02
I miss all the great times and the great people, i meet there Miss you Butch and Jaimie, rest in peace! Love AL-B
Posted by: AL-B | 23 December 2011 at 09:07
Looks interesting.
Posted by: 8thWonderr | 23 December 2011 at 19:00