![alibi gay bar nyc alibi gay bar nyc](https://i.gaycities.com/v7/_gc-blog-prodweb_/outthere/content/uploads/2020/09/alibi_lounge_facebook.jpg)
“I think it’s a great privilege to be number 2.”
![alibi gay bar nyc alibi gay bar nyc](https://clubfly.com/img/barpic/694.jpg)
“You don’t do anything unless you see people that look like you do it,” says Hughes. Only six blocks north of Lambda Lounge is Alibi Lounge, the only other Black-owned gay bar in town, which was on the brink of closing.
![alibi gay bar nyc alibi gay bar nyc](https://www.amny.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/image-495.jpg)
The current crisis has been particularly challenging for bars catering to the LGBTQ+ community. You invest so much time and money and then it’s on hold indefinitely.” “I don’t know if surreal is the word for it it was a numbness. “It's been rough for us because we're fronting the cost of everything. They decided opening Lambda Lounge would help give more exposure to their vodka and planned to open on April 10-but then the city shut down everything in mid March. They compare it to Tito’s but with citrus notes and smooth texture.Īs they tried to sell the vodka to bars and stores across the city, the community in Harlem was the most receptive (LALA Wine & Liquor on 125th Street and Broadway carries their vodka). The grain-based vodka is distilled six times and bottled by Citrus Distillers in Jacksonville, Florida. Hughes and Solomon-39- and 38-years-old, respectively-launched Lambda Vodka, in 2016, the same year they got married. But their story goes back further: Hughes was sitting at his desk job one day when he looked out his window and saw an ad for Cîroc-the vodka brand famously endorsed by Sean “Diddy” Combs-and thought to himself: “Why doesn’t the LGBT community have a vodka?” Photograph: Lemon Brands Photograph: Lemon Brandsīoth men work full-time for an insurance company and are the sole owners of Lambda Lounge. “We wanted to create a space for our community that you might get in Soho but bring it uptown,” Hughes says. Until government officials allow bars to welcome guests indoors, they plan to open a deck and backyard space on Saturdays between 6-11pm. On Saturday, Hughes and Solomon will officially open Lambda Lounge in Harlem, only the second Black-owned LGBTQ+ bar in New York City. We need to have a gay club, a gay environment that is a safe space for us.” The married couple recalls dancing at a club with friends a few years ago, Solomon says, when the DJ “stopped everything and screamed in the microphone: ‘men don’t dance with men here.’ That struck a nerve with me. When the DJ turned off the music, Charles Hughes and Ricky Solomon knew it was time to start their own bar.