Scotto, an 80-year-old Italian-American who has spent his entire life in the neighborhood. “We’re a lot more tolerant than we used to be,” acknowledged Mr. This question is probably rarely asked in Carroll Gardens, at least by longtime residents like Buddy Scotto, owner of Scotto Funeral Home. “I thought, why can’t there be a night when gays don’t have to travel into the city or stay at home?” Mr.
Six months ago, when he proposed a night designed to attract gay men and lesbians, they agreed. Handley’s, a bar next door whose owners also own the pizzeria. Live Go-Go Dancers.” Inside, a few dozen men and women mingled in a room whose most prominent décor is a century-old brick oven.Īmong the crowd was the party’s organizer, a sociable 34-year-old named Evan Siegel who works as a manager at the Milford Plaza Hotel in Midtown. on a recent Monday, a strobe light flashed in front of the curtained window and a chalkboard sign outside advertised: “Gay Party.
The establishment, called South Brooklyn Pizza, used to be closed that day. On Monday nights, a pizzeria and bar on Court Street near Fourth Place that opened six months ago is transformed into a gay party scene. “All of the sudden, there’s a bit of Chelsea.” “The streets are lined with guys muttering to themselves in Italian,” said Julio Vincent Gambuto, a 31-year-old writer and performer who learned of Fondle, the weekly gay party, through his boyfriend, a magazine editor. The area’s first gay bar scene began in February, and its presence is surprising in a neighborhood increasingly known for its stroller traffic and one that has been a Catholic stronghold. Rumor has it that Rumors Bar and Grill in Wilton Manors, South Floridas premier gay community, just north of Downtown Fort Lauderdale is fast becoming one of the citys favorite watering holes. Now, Mondays in the neighborhood are Fondle nights. AS recently as a decade ago, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, teemed with macho Italian-American teenagers who could turn a warm night into something that resembled the set of “Saturday Night Fever.” They cruised the streets in souped-up cars, hung out noisily on street corners and occasionally hurled homophobic remarks at passers-by whom they deemed not quite tough enough.