Monday, August 14, 2006

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes


So after hearing so much about Sunday afternoons at Opus 22 near the Westside Highway in Chelsea, I finally had a chance to check it out yesterday. We immediately ran into the mane main attraction -- the leggy blond bombshell Miss Candis Cayne -- and couldn't resist a photo op with the Queen of Gorgeous herself. She put on a fun show (she quickly went flying into the street lip-syncing Pat Benatar's classic "Heartbreaker") and the place went wild. The crowd was quite hot and was packed to the rafters and then some (Jai Rodriguez and Kyan Douglas from "Queer Eye" and Robert Gant from "Queer as Folk" added the gay celebrity element). At one point Candis screamed out that she couldn't help but notice how good-looking everybody there was -- and that we needed to be sure not to tell "any ugly people" about the bar (well, it sounded funnier coming from a sharp-tongued tranny in 7-inch heels).


But it didn't take long for things to turn kind of dark when a hoard of NYPD officers showed up and started harassing everybody for no apparent reason. They started demanding IDs from guys who were well into their 40s, telling people they weren't allowed to stand on the sidewalk (the place is one huge open space and it was probably the most beautiful summer afternoon we've had to date, after weeks of relentless heat) and generally being assholes. I hadn't been to a gay hot-spot in quite some time but if this is the direction New York City is heading -- and it appears that it is -- then I don't think it will be long before people start pushing back and things get even uglier.

(Top photo via Lavi)

1 comment:

Lavi Soloway said...

With 95% of the patrons inside, and holding no drink of any kind I was simply standing on the sidewalk watching the police across the street. I was told by an officer that I could not stand (alone!) on the sidewalk because sidewalks are for "walking". Presumably I was blocking the way for.... there are no people walking on West 22nd Street and 11th Avenue, apart from the VERY rare person crossing over from Chelsea Piers. It was overkill and drama. They could have made an announcement and give out warnings if there was really something sinister going on, which there wasn't. Thank you Christine Quinn for this ridiculous waste of NYPD resources!