There\u2019s no way to stop change, I know, but this theater, even though I never set foot inside, is part of my internal map of Jackson Heights, part of how my memory structures the meaning of this town I live in, and so it makes me sad to know that it\u2019s been replaced by a food court.<\/p>\n Not that there\u2019s anything wrong with food courts, but this area is already chock full of Indian restaurants, Pakistani restaurants, Tibetan and Nepalese restaurants, Desi Hallal Chinese restaurants; and right across Roosevelt Avenue there is a very good Korean restaurant next door to a Vietnamese place–not to mention the more standard fare: pizza places, Dunkin Donuts and more. So it\u2019s not like there\u2019s a paucity of places for people to grab a bite to eat, but even if there were, the closing of the Earle removes from the 37th Road the last landmark connecting this place to who I was when I as younger.<\/p>\n Just a couple of storefronts down from the Earle\/Eagle was The Betsy Ross\u2014which was later called The Magic Touch\u2014one of several gay bars that were in the neighborhood at the time. (There was also The Love Boat and Billy the Kid, which I vaguely remember walking past at the time, but I have no memory if they were also on 37th Road or if they were somewhere else in the neighborhood.) I didn\u2019t know this\u2014there was no way I would\u2019ve known this at the time\u2014but 37th Road was apparently known at the time as \u201cVaseline Alley<\/a>.\u201d I don’t remember which of the storefronts to the right of the theater was The Betsy Ross, but this is what the block looked like just before the Jackson Heights Food Court marquis went up. (The image is from cinematreasures.org<\/a> and was uploaded there by KenRoe.)<\/p>\n The Betsy Ross was the first gay bar I ever went to; indeed, I think it was the first bar I ever went to period, since I was underage\u2014I was sixteen; the drinking age at the time was eighteen\u2014and the people I hung out with at home just didn\u2019t go to bars.<\/p>\n I ended up there because John\u2014at least I think I remember that was his name\u2014the newly hired bartender at the catering hall, whom I\u2019d been assigned to help at the party that night, asked me if I wanted to go. I was asking him what his job was during the day.<\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d he said with a smile, \u201cI used to be a cop, but they kicked me off the force.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey had their reasons,\u201d was all he would say, though I asked him one or two more times. Then he changed the subject, \u201cDo you have a girlfriend?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s her name?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKristin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow long have you been going out?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAbout six months.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt sixteen years old,\u201d he responded, \u201cthat must seem like an awfully long time.\u201d<\/p>\n I agreed that it did.<\/p>\n When it was time to leave, Michael said, \u201cIf you want to talk some more, I know somewhere we can go.\u201d<\/p>\n We walked out of the Jewish Center, and he led me to The Betsy Ross, where we took a booth on the far side of the dance floor. I know we started to talk about Beth, and I know that another man joined us in the conversation, but I don\u2019t remember anything from the conversation. What I do remember is the two men who got up to dance, weaving their bodies together far more smoothly and erotically than any I\u2019d ever seen a man and woman dance together. It made me think of water moving into water. John reached across the table and tapped me on the shoulder, \u201cRichard, you realize you\u2019re in a gay bar, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do now,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s okay?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI knew you\u2019d be cool about it,\u201d he said, and then he reached out and put his palm flat against my right cheek in a touch that was so soft and gentle I caught my breath a little. \u201cI\u2019m not a cop anymore,\u201d he smiled sadly, \u201cbecause I\u2019m gay and I refused to hide it.\u201d<\/p>\n I don’t remember what I said in response or even if I felt particularly sad or angry for him, though I have no doubt that I thought it was unfair. I was much too interested in watching the dancers, who must\u2019ve seen me staring because they waved as they sauntered by when the dance was finished, and then John raised his glass to them and smiled, and I did too. Then, at some point, I told John and the other man we’d been talking to that I needed to go home. We said goodbye and I don’t think I ever saw either of them again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don\u2019t remember where I had to go, but I was happy to be taking the subway. The route I took is a route I\u2019ve been taking for more than thirty years now, going back to when I was a … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.richardjnewman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/IMG_0018-300x225.jpg\" "\\"IMG_0018\\"")
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