COLLAGE BY MICHAEL SHIREY
Your votes are in! In voting that took place between October 2 and 26, Gay City News readers cast thousands of votes in 25 categories to rate the best businesses, community services, entertainers and shows, food and drink, and places to live and visit.
Now the real fun begins. First-round voting has narrowed the choices — in some cases, to two clear front-runners; more often to three alternatives that were the most popular; and in a few categories that were particularly competitive, to four finalists.
Between now and 6 p.m. on November 7, you can vote again — this time to pick winners in each category of the Best of Gay City Annual Readers’ Choice contest. Voting — at gaycitynews.nyc/bestofgaycity — runs from October 30 through November 7 at 6 p.m.
Thousands have joined in already, but it’s not too late
We will announce the winners in our November 13 print edition.
First-time voters will win a three-day free pass to Crunch Gym. And every time you vote, your name gets entered into the raffle for gifts including an iPad, an iPad Mini, a David Barton Gym membership, and travel on Hornblower Cruises.
If you participated in the preliminary round of voting, thanks for being part of our contest. And if you have sat this out so far, there’s still time to register your opinions about the best the Gay City has to offer.
FINALISTS
Best Gym or Personal Trainer
Crunch: With 11 locations in Manhattan, four gyms in Brooklyn, two in the Bronx, and one on Staten Island, Crunch has one of the city’s biggest fitness franchises. Visit crunch.com .
DavidBartonGym: With two locations in the Village and one on the Upper East Side, DavidBarton will soon once again have a location in Chelsea. Visit davidbartongym.com.
Planet Fitness: This fitness chain is all over the city with a total of 33 locations: nine each in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, and three each in Queens and Staten Island. Visit planetfitness.com.
Best Salon or Spa
West Side Club: The longtime Manhattan establishment bills itself as a premier locale for gay and bi men to grab a sauna and relax with like-minded gents. 27 W. 20th St. Visit westsideclubnyc.com.
Manworks: A network of masseurs, Manworks offers a directory of 137 working in New York City. Visit manworks.com.
Best Gay Bar
Barracuda: This Chelsea institution, open from 4 p.m.-4 a.m. daily, has won many Best of contests. 275 W. 22nd St. Visit Barracuda Lounge on Facebook.
Boots & Saddle: Long a mainstay on Christopher St., Boots & Saddle now bills itself as the NYC House of Drag. 76 Christopher St. Visit bootsandsaddlehouseo.wix.com/bootsnsaddlenyc.
The Duplex: Since 1950, the Duplex has offered nightly cabaret entertainment. 61 Christopher St. Visit theduplex.com.
The Eagle: A premiere leather/ levi bar since 1970, what was then called the Eagle’s Nest migrated from West St. in 2001 to 554 W. 22nd St. Visit eaglenyc.com.
Best Lesbian Bar
Cubbyhole: Calling itself New York’s neighborhood fusion bar, Cubbyhole has been lesbian, gay, and straight-friendly since 1994. 281 W. 12th St. Visit cubbyholebar.com.
Henrietta Hudson: For more than two decades, Henrietta Hudson — Bar & Grill has served the lesbian community, with happy hour daily from 4-7 p.m. 438 Hudson St. henriettahudson.com.
Best Happy Hour
Boots & Saddle: Long a mainstay on Christopher St., Boots & Saddle now bills itself as the NYC House of Drag. 76 Christopher St. Visit bootsandsaddlehouseo.wix.com/bootsnsaddlenyc.
Boxers: Open until 2 a.m. nightly and 4 a.m. Thursdays to Saturdays, Boxers sports bars are located at 37 W. 20th St and 742 Ninth Ave. Visit boxersnyc.com.
The Duplex: Since 1950, the Duplex has offered nightly cabaret entertainment. 61 Christopher St. Visit theduplex.com.
Best Cocktail
Bourbon on the rocks
Cosmopolitan
Best Coffee
Café Grumpy: Launched in Greenpoint in 2005, Café Grumpy now has locations as well in Park Slope, Chelsea, the Lower East Side, the Fashion District, and Grand Central. Visit cafegrumpy.com.
Gorilla: With two locations in Brooklyn — 472 Bergen St. near the Barclays Center and its original shop at 97 Fifth Ave. in Park Slope — Gorilla also has a lively web ordering business. Visit gorillacoffee.com.
Irving Farm: With five locations from the Lower East Side to the Upper West Side, Irving also offers online shopping. Visit irvingfarm.com.
Best Date Night Restaurant
Bareburger: Promising diners an all-organic meal, Bareburger, which traces its roots to a small bar in Brooklyn, now has eight Manhattan locations, four in Queens, and two in Brooklyn. Visit bareburger.com.
Boat Basin: This casual, mostly outdoor restaurant on the Hudson River, has two al fresco dining areas plus a covered rotunda graced by limestone arches. W. 79th St. at the Hudson. Visit boatbasincafe.com.
One If By Land Two If By Sea: This dark, cozy brick-walled restaurant with a famed fireplace, has long been a West Village favorite. 17 Barrow St. Visit oneifbyland.com.
Best Delivery
Best Cheap Eats
Dizzy’s Park Slope: From its origins at 511 Ninth St., above the Seventh Ave. F station, Dizzy’s later added a location at 230 Fifth Ave. in the Slope. Visit dizzys.com.
Meatball Shop: With five locations in Manhattan and a sixth in Williamsburg, the Meatball Shop proved its customer loyalty in the recent Ebola scare. Visit themeatballshop.com.
Pommes Frites: The promise of authentic Belgian fries has made this East Village eatery a sometime-challenging place to nab a table. 123 Second Ave. Visit pommesfritesnyc.com.
Best Sweet Shop
Big Gay Ice Cream: With shops in Philly and LA, Big Gay Ice Cream, which started its life with a big gay ice cream truck, has two Village locations: 125 E. Seventh St. and 61 Grove St. Visit biggayicecream.com.
Billy’s: With locations in Chelsea, Tribeca, and near the Plaza Hotel, Billy’s bakery is the baby of two business school buds who make all their food on site. Visit billysbakerynyc.com.
Li-Lac Chocolates: This West Village mainstay (at 40 Eighth Ave.) advertises itself as “stubbornly old fashioned since 1923” — and it hand delivers in much of Manhattan — but it now has a Grand Central outlet and a brand new factory in Brooklyn. Visit li-lacchocolates.com.
Best Pet Care Store
The Salty Paw: Located at 38 Peck Slip at the South Street Seaport, the Salty Paw is the first pet boutique and grooming spa serving the booming residential scene in the Financial District. Visit thesaltypaw.com.
The Spot Experience: With four locations on the Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, and Tribeca, the Spot Experience offers daycare, grooming, training, overnights, and walking services. Visit thespotexperience.com.
Best App
Grindr
Scruff
New York Times
Best Museum or Gallery
Brooklyn Museum: The McKim, Mead and White Beaux-Arts Brooklyn Museum, the city’s second biggest, has the largest holdings of Egyptian antiquities outside Cairo but faced the wrath of Mayor Rudy Giuliani for a controversial 1999 art exhibition. 200 East Parkway near Grand Army Plaza. brooklynmuseum.org.
Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay & Lesbian Art: The world’s first museum dedicated to LGBTQ art, Leslie Lohman maintains a collection of 22,000 works, including pieces by Catherine Opie, David Wojnarowicz, Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, George Platt Lynes, and Jean Cocteau. 26 Wooster St. Visit leslielohman.org.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Launched in 1870, the Met has been in its Richard Morris Hunt-designed Beaux-Arts home at 1000 Fifth Ave. since 1902. With more than two million objects in two million square feet of space, it is the city’s largest museum and one of the world’s most influential. Visit metmuseum.org.
Best Show
Phantom of the Opera: The winner of seven Tonys when it premiered in 1988, Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Phantom of the Opera” is now the longest-running show in Broadway history. Majestic Theatre, 247 W. 47th St. Visit thephantomoftheopera.com.
American Horror Story: Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s anthology horror series on the FX network is now in its fourth season. Visit fxnetworks.com.
Cabaret: Alan Cumming is back at Studio 54 — tricked out to evoke the Kit Kat Klub — as the Emcee, joined by Michelle Williams (through November 9) as Sally Bowles. 254 W. 54th St. Visit cabaret.roundabouttheatre.org.
Best Drag Performer
Bob the Drag Queen: The self-styled queen for the people — and on Twitter self-described as a funny bitch — Bob has kept them rolling on the floor at Barracuda, the Monster, and Boots and Saddles, among many venues. Follow her @thatonequeen.
Hedda Lettuce: Whether hosting her movie night at the Chelsea Bowtie, turning up on “Project Runway,” on “Oprah,” or in “Broadway Bares,” or headlining at Carolines on Broadway, Hedda, the green queen, has always shown off a dagger wit. Visit heddalettuce.com.
Best Home Design Store
Bed, Bath and Beyond: This eclectic emporium, which was a pioneer in the revitalization of Sixth Avenue in Chelsea two decades ago, has four Manhattan locations, three in Queens, and one each in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Visit bethbathandbeyond.com.
IKEA: The Scandinavian home design giant, which offers both economy and elegance, has a waterside location in Red Hook, Brooklyn as well as its longtime locations in Paramus and Elizabeth, New Jersey. Visit ikea.com.
Restoration Hardware: Offering an ever broader array of high end classic looks, Restoration’s Flatiron store at 935 Broadway is eye-popping even for those who hate shopping. Visit restorationhardware.com.
Best Cosmetic Surgeon
Dr. David Rapaport: A board certified plastic surgeon, Dr. David Rapaport’s office is at 905 Fifth Ave. Visit parkavenueplasticsurgeon.com.
Dr. Daniel Baker: A member of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Dr. Daniel Baker is a professor of surgery at NYU’s Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and has practiced for more than 25 years. 65 E. 66th St. Visit danielbakermd.com.
Best Gayborhood
Chelsea
Hells Kitchen
Park’s Slope
West Village
Biggest Celebrity Crush
Jake Gyllenhaal: The straight actor won — and apparently retained — the hearts of many gay men for his 2005 turn in “Brokeback Mountain.” Visit him at JakeGyllenhaal.com.
Andrew Rannells: This out gay singer and actor has been everywhere in the last few years: most recently as Hedwig, on “Girls,” in the short-lived “The New Normal,” and Tony-nominated in “Book of Mormon.” Visit him on Facebook.
Best Travel Service
Expedia.com: Launched in 2001 by Microsoft and later spun off, Expedia was one of the early leaders in online travel booking.
GayCities.com: Launched in 2005 as a gay travel resource, GayCities.com was relaunched three years later to incorporate social media tools to enhance the user experience and build a community of LGBT travelers.
JetBlue: The low-cost air carrier, based at Kennedy Airport, serves the US, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Visit jetblue.com.
Kayak: Coming into the online travel business a few years after Expedia, Kayak has won high praise in a variety of travel and website surveys and rankings. Visit kayak.com.
Best Vacation Destination
New Orleans
Provincetown
San Francisco
Best Weekend Getaway
Asbury Park
Fire Island
Hudson, New York
Best Parenting Service
Genesis Fertility: Delivering comprehensive care for both male and female infertility, Genesis Fertility has a track record of more than 25 years in locations in Park Slope, Downtown Brooklyn, Dyker Heights, and Staten Island. Visit genesisfertility.com.
Simple Surrogacy: A Dallas-based full surrogacy agency, Simple Surrogacy has a special practice working with gay and lesbian intended parents, who in New York face the added challenge that surrogacy contracts are not currently legal under state law so the process must take place completely out of state. Visit simplesurrogacy.com.
Best Health Care Service
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center: Dating back more than 40 years to its roots in the St. Mark’s Community Clinic and the Gay Men’s Health Project, Callen-Lorde offers health services to the LGBT community regardless of ability to pay. 356 W. 18th St. Visit callen-lorde.org.
Gay Men’s Health Crisis: Founded by a group of six gay men in 1981 just months after AIDS was first identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, GMHC was the first and remains one of the largest service organizations battling the epidemic. 446 W. 33rd St. Visit gmhc.org.
Hospice of New York: Based in Long Island City, Hospice of New York provides hospice professionals and volunteers in dozens of hospitals and skilled nursing facilities in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Nassau County. Visit hospiceny.com.
