It opened in 1953 after the 181, at that number on Second Avenue, around the corner, lost its liquor license after being mentioned in USA Confidential as a gay club. Both clubs had the same management, personnel and style.
Mobster Vito Genovese had bought up gay bars in the Greenwich Village area in th

82 Club became New

After Stonewall, the business drifted away, when people could be more open on the streets. At this time the club was run by two butch dykes, Tommy who worked the door and Butchie who ran the bar.
As the club had an outcast image, punk and early glitter and glam kids started going t

The New York Dolls started to perform at 82 Club. For their first show, April 17, 1974, they performed in drag, except for Johnny Thunders who refused. They were followed by Wayne County (later to be Jayne) and short-lived glitter bands like Teenage Lust and Harlots of 42nd Street. David Bowie and Lou Reed and his trans lover Rachel were encountered there.
The rock bands stopped in 1976, and it continued as a disco bar until it closed in 1978. Later it became the Film Forum, an art cinema. In 1992 it became the Bijou Cinema. After renovation in 2006, it reopened as a gay sex club and porn theatre.
Performers included Terry Noel, Minette, Sonne Teal, Kim August, Tobi Marsh, Hans Crystal, Kim Christy, Gayle Sherman, Dorian Wayne, Tony Midnight, Betty.
- Signed D.C. "What a drag -- too many snags". It's all the streets you crossed not so long ago. Sept 4, 2005. http://streetsyoucrossed.blogspot.com/2005/09/what-drag-too-many-snags.html.
- "Genovese Crime Family". History of Gay Bars in New York City. Dec 26, 2007. http://bitterqueen.typepad.com/history_of_gay_bars_in_ne/genovese_crime_family.
- J.D. Doyle. "Club 82". Queer Music Heritage. www.queermusicheritage.us/fem-cl82.html.
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