Iconic bar booted from Christopher Street

Facing sky-high rent, a famed Christopher Street gay bar is struggling to find a new home.

The rent at Boots & Saddle, a 40-year-old institution located at 76 Christopher Street, is now approaching $20,000 a month. But, thus far, attempts to find a new location have failed, with two locations being shot down by neighbors and a third attracting fierce opposition, according to the New York Post.

“They just don’t want us. They don’t want their bucolic neighborhood interfered with. For some reason, they think they moved into the Amish country,” one bar supporter told the Post. “I don’t know if it’s hypocrisy or bigotry.”

Next week, the western-themed bar will ask Community Board 2 to support its liquor-license application for 47 Seventh Avenue South, a former restaurant. But locals have already organized against the move, distributing fliers that the bar will bring “noise, crime and pedestrian and vehicular traffic” to the area.

“It’s totally inappropriate,” said Albert Bennett of the Morton Street Block Association. “These blocks form a residential enclave that is very special.” [NYP] – Christopher Cameron