10 NYC Gay Pride Parties To Check
Gay Pride Week is right around the corner, with all the loud, proud, let-it-all-hang-out revelry that goes along with it, and nobody does Pride Week like New York. Dancing, drinking, dressing and doing whatever else comes naturally, New Yorkers know how to get down when the time rolls around. But there's plenty more to Pride Week than just the parade, as awesome as that prodigious procession may be. There's also an overwhelming array of parties taking place all over town. So if you're out and about — with the emphasis on out — when it's time to let your flag fly high, here's a handy pride guide to 10 of the most worthwhile bashes from Greenwich Village to Gowanus.
GREENWICH VILLAGE
KNGS & QNS present MAN(hattan)
The Monster has a long tradition of big, blowout Pride Week parties, and this year will be no exception to that rule. The KNGS & QNS dance party will be in full effect, with some stellar spinning from DJs Rich King and Austin Downey, and a live performance by house music hero Aiden Leslie. What a way to kick off a wild week!
June 17, The Monster, 80 Grove St.
Alegria has a rep for hosting the hottest events in New York all year round, but when Pride Week arrives, they really get down to business. Brooklyn-born, Miami-based DJ Abel Aguilera and Milan's Danny Verde will be mixing it up in the Grand Ballroom, while L.A. progressive-house hotshot Joe Gauthreaux gets behind the decks in the Marlin Room.
June 24, Webster Hall, 125 E. 11 St.
WEST SIDE
Josh Wood Productions presents The Day Party
Admittedly, most of the best Pride parties start late and end early (in the morning, that is). So if you're searching for someplace to start celebrating while the sun is still out, here's a bash that flips the script schedule-wise (3-11pm), but with Grammy-nominated remix king Dave Aude and bad-ass Brazilian DJ Ana Paula putting their special spin on things, it'll feel like party o'clock no matter what time it is.
June 23, Pier 83 (42 St. & West Side Highway)
What, one afternoon option isn't enough for you? Well then, how about one that promises "hot boys in UnderGear underwear" brandishing water pistols? Throw in the spinning skills of Dan De Leon and Tracy Young, and a choice between the Rooftop Garden Lounge and the Salon and Garden Terrace, and this Pride Week staple starts looking better and better.
June 23, Hudson Terrace, 621 W. 46 St.
June 23, Pier 57 (15th St. & West Side Highway)
The ninth edition of this official NYC Pride event is one of two long-standing parties that's being moved from its previous home at Pier 54 due to that longtime location's physical instability. But in its new home, Rapture on the River — the biggest pride party geared toward the gals in the gang — will now be impervious to rain and can contain even more revelers, which is a good thing, considering how many people will want to get down to DJs Missy B, Trini, and Whitney Day.
Dance on the Pier is the other official NYC Pride party that's moving to a bigger, better spot at Pier 57. It basically picks up where its sister event, Rapture on the River, leaves off, as it will just be getting fired up when the Rapture starts winding down. And with Dutch dance-pop siren Eva Simons and DJs Boris, Eddie Baez, and The Perry Twins stirring things up, it'll take a more physically fortified pier to keep the partiers from stomping their way through to the river itself.
June 23, Pier 57 (15th St. & West Side Highway)
DOWNTOWN
Lords New York presents Proud to Party: A Fetish Beach Party
Get ready for a little bit of Miami on the Lower East Side, as legendary gay hotel Lords South Beach mounts an East Coast invasion at the Hotel on Rivington. When you step inside and see the nine-foot inflatable polar bear — among many other design recreations from Lords South Beach — and receive your sex-toy gift bag, you'll know you're in the right place. And when veteran DJ Vito Fun (his real name, we're told) turns it on, your feet will feel the flow too. Open vodka bar, anyone?
June 22, Hotel on Rivington, 107 Rivington St.
Lords New York presents Proud to Be Creative Brunch
Surely you didn't assume that Lords' pop-up Pride Week presene would end with the aforementioned event, did you? Not by a long shot. Look, after all that vodka drinking at the Fetish Beach Party, you're gonna need to get a good meal in your belly, and Lords NY has you covered on that front with their brunch honoring LGBT creativity, hosted by Ultra Violet and featuring an art installation by Warhol cohort Robert Indiana and the music of DJ Justin Dawson.
June 23, CO-OP Food & Drink @ Hotel on Rivington, 107 Rivington St.
Lee Chappell & Chris Ryan present Desire: A Masquerade
You may have been to a masquerade ball before, but you've never been to one like this. Not only will partygoers be dressed in as many outrageous outfits as can be imagined, there'll also be performance artists, drag queens, and go-go boys getting into the spirit of the event in Capitale's Grand Ballroom. Synth-pop star Oh Land, DJs Hector Fonseca and Alyson Calagna, and a $500 prize for best costume sweeten the pot even further.
June 25, Capitale, 130 Bowery
BROOKLYN
tumblr. & Everyone Is Gay present All Ages Pride Meetup
Gowanus nightspot Littlefield is known for consistently bringing cutting-edge music to Brooklyn, and they'll be continuing that mission with the added agenda of a free, all-ages get-together, with donations going to housing for homeless LGBT youth. Butterfly Boucher, I Am Lightyear, and Town Hall will be providing the pulse for this special afternoon event.
June 23, Littlefield, 622 Degraw St.
