Anthony Mulvey-Reyes Collection of New York City LGBTQ+ Ephemera

This collection, assembled by Anthony Mulvey-Reyes, includes programs, invitations, advertising cards, mailers, posters, newsletters, magazines, pamphlets, booklets, membership cards, club kid trading cards, and tickets from various LGBTQ+ events and nightlife across New York City, especially Manhattan, in the 1990s. The institutions represented include boybar, Crowbar, Limelight, The Men's Room at Webster Hall, Palladium, Roxy, Sound Factory, Tilt, and Tunnel as well as advertisements for the Columbia Gay and Lesbian Dances. Many of these events highlighted in the material feature Marc Berkely, a New York City club promoter and co-founder of HX magazine, and Junior Vasquez, an American DJ and record producer, as well as John Blair, the former owner of several notable New York City LGBTQ+ clubs and current owner of The Out NYC in Hell's Kitchen. The contents include BANG booklets no. 1-4 and no. 6, which feature ads and invitations to LGBTQ+ events and nightlife throughout New York City in late 1991 and early 1992. Additionally, there are three programs from balls and house functions in the 1990s. Also of note is a folded poster for the 1992 Gay and Lesbian Pride and History Month, on which LGBTQ+ people in government are featured as well as a calendar of Pride events for June 1992.

The ephemera captures some of the events held by renowned New York City LGBTQ+ nightlife institutions during the 1990s when such nightlife was often under scrutiny by the city government. As a result, this material provides glimpses into some of these nightlife institutions and their figures, such as Studio 54, a disco nightclub that operated from 1977-1996 and featured performers such as RuPaul Charles, Gloria Gaynor, and others; and The Limelight, which first opened in November 1983 in the former Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion at 656-662 Avenue of the Americas at West 20th Street. LGBTQ+ clubs such as these and others were known in the 1990s for their wild themes (from underwear to Easter Bunny parties) and the presence of the Club Kids, a group of New York City dance club personalities known for their flamboyant costumes and big personalities that came to include people such as Amanda Lepore and Richie Rich, among others. This kind of nightlife, characterized by its exuberance and glamour, began to decline in 1994 as then mayor, Rudy Giuliani, announced a crackdown on Quality of Life Offenses, which targeted poor and marginalized communities in New York City. Additionally, the 1996 murder and dismemberment of Andre "Angel" Menendez, a well-known personality at The Limelight, by Michael Alig, a founding figure of the Club Kids, spelled the beginning of the end for the popularity of this type of LGBTQ+ nightlife. In 1998, The Limelight finally closed after being repeatedly shut down by the police due to allegations of drugs and accusations against Peter Gatien, the owner of The Limelight as well as Club USA, Tunnel, and Palladium, of running a drug ring out of the club. This collections highlights this particular era of New York City LGBTQ+ nightlife with ads and invitations from parties at clubs such as Limelight and Sound Tunnel, membership cards that granted reduced fares at themed parties across New York City LGBTQ+ clubs, and pictures in magazines and newspapers of such nightlife.