Did NYC Police Fake Complaints To Raid Gay Bar During Pride?
Trubs at The Eagle.
- Police raid NYC gay bar on the same night, The Eagle; claim it was due to frequent 311 complaints.
- The Eagle is cited for 6 different violations. I’m all, “Do better, Eagle.”
Got it? Got it.
But all is not as it seems. While The Eagle was clearly not operating their business entirely responsibly, at least one part of the police force’s allegations appears to be a lie. The frequent complaints about the bar reported to the city’s 311 and 911 lines? Yeah, not so much…
As you can see below on New York City’s 311 complaint map, The Eagle hasn’t received a single complaint in the past year, which completely contradicts what NYC police claim was the justification for raiding the gay bar.
311 Complain Map. The Eagle is the red rectangle. The yellow circles are properties receiving complaints.
Vanishing New York alleges something much more sinister is going on.
Not only has the extended High Line just opened on this block, butAvalonBay is building their massive Avalon West Chelsea directly across the street from the Eagle, taking 60,000 square feet of space to put in a 700-unit residential development with “provisions for restaurants” and a “parking garage for over 140 cars located in the building.” To do so, they have already bulldozed a cluster of industrial businesses long located here.
What many of those south-facing windows look out on is the roof deck of the Eagle, where men in leather chaps and harnesses cavort. “Don’t miss your chance to be a part of the High Line,” says Avalon’s ad copy. I don’t think this is what they mean. Do the High Line huggers really want their view to include sweaty, furry leathermen?
The timing of this raid has nothing to do with Pride or gay marriage, and everything to do with the High Line’s recent arrival on 28th Street and every glittering thing it brings in its wake. Mark my words, the Pride Weekend raid on the Eagle is Phase One of the city’s plan to push this historic bar out of its home and put the kibosh on the Folsom Street East fair in the process.
This isn’t your garden variety homophobia at work. It’s Manifest Destiny. It matters to everyone who cares about the preservation of New York’s soul because this is part of Bloomberg’s plan to turn all of Manhattan into a luxury product. And the dress code does not permit leather and Levi’s.
Damn, Gina. That’s some heavy detective work there.
Fishy, fishy, New York!
