The Boiler Room, a landmark gay dive bar in the East Village, is moving to 45 Second Ave. likely next year.
The popular spot is moving after 34 years at its first location on 86 E. Fourth Street in the East Village. The bar has been in a prolonged legal battle with its landlord over unpaid rent during the pandemic, according to the citizen journalism website, EV Grieve. It also reports that its first location anticipates being open up until the fall when its lease expires.
The East Village is home to a rich punk and queer history. Its first gay drag bar, The Pyramid Club, arrived at 101 Avenue A in 1979. The club helped define the East Village’s alternative and queer scenes throughout the 80s, according to Village Preservation, an organization that is committed to preserving and celebrating the architectural and cultural history of the Greenwich Village, the East Village and Noho. Other popular gay bars in the neighborhood include Phoenix Bar, Nowhere and The Cock.
New York Magazine has described The Boiler Room as a “friendly, unobtrusive, post-gay gay bar that helped put the queer East Village bar scene on the map.”
