New York's massive Pride March is this Sunday at noon, but you don't have to get on a train if you don't want to–there are plenty of spots where you can celebrate uptown.
Start at Harlem Pride, marking its 10th anniversary, this Saturday, June 29 for an afternoon of live entertainment, dancing, and food under the 12th Avenue viaduct. Then head to one of these Pride-friendly bars or cafes for special drinks and more. From south to north:
Harlem's opulent new cocktail lounge is celebrating Pride through the end of the month with its El Torero de la Torah cocktail. Made with mezcal, falernum, hibiscus and lime, it's inspired by a recent article about Sidney Franklin, a "Gay Jewish Matador from Brooklyn"
Calling itself the only black-owned gay lounge in NYC, Alibi started off the month with some truly bad news: its outdoor rainbow flags had been set on fire by a vandal. Thankfully, the police responded quickly and have been working to ID the suspect. Stop by for a drink and show your support.
On Saturday this tapas-and-wine spot on 145th Street is hosting a post-Harlem Pride Afternoon Tea Dance on its patio lounge, with DJ Brandon D'Lux doing the spinning.
If you couldn't tell from its frequent sidewalk signs (see above), this quaint basement coffee shop in Hamilton Heights truly welcomes the LGBTQ community: "The Chipped Cup is proud to be a safe space uptown. Come in friends; put your queer foot forward," it recently wrote on Instagram.
This lively pub (and younger sibling of Harlem Public right next door) is donating $3 of every "Proud Mary" cocktail sold this month to Callen-Lorde, which provides health care services to the LGBTQ community.
"America's Gay Sports Bar" opened its first uptown branch last September, and now Washington Heights finally has a ginormous gay bar to call its own.
