Gay sports bar Boxers in New York City ‘s Chelsea neighborhood is looking to open a second location in Hell’s Kitchen…and some New Yorkers aren’t happy about it. The proposed location is around the corner from a school and residents are using that excuse to fight it. From the New York Post:
"It's disgusting," fumed Iyanth Davis, 53, a law librarian. "That's absolutely too close to these two schools . . . And the issue is not that it's a gay bar — it's a bar . . . That's the issue."
Gay sports bar Boxers in New York City ‘s Chelsea neighborhood is looking to open a second location in Hell’s Kitchen…and some New Yorkers aren’t happy about it. The proposed location is around the corner from a school and residents are using that excuse to fight it. From the New York Post:
"It's disgusting," fumed Iyanth Davis, 53, a law librarian. "That's absolutely too close to these two schools . . . And the issue is not that it's a gay bar — it's a bar . . . That's the issue."
Disgusting? It’s highly doubtful that word would be used if it were a straight bar. According to the Post, the bar owners want to subdivide the building so the bar complies with city law and will sit just over 200 feet away from the school. Again, if it weren’t a gay bar with all of those evil gay pedophiles running around, it wouldn’t be an issue for many.
School gets out in the early afternoon. Bars open in the late afternoon and on the weekends. And even if they were open at the same time, a) the bar wouldn't allow 12-year-olds into the bar and b) patrons wouldn't be outside trying to lure kids away with bottles of Coors Lite.
I enjoy Boxers every time I go, and I hope the city doesn't stop them from opening up where they want to open. In an overcrowded city where you're always 200 feet from a teenager, you can't legislate everything. Heck, the first Boxers is next door to an old church (that now houses a bar)…and Manhattan hasn't sunk into the ocean yet!
Hat tip to Towleroad.
