City Council candidate Yetta Kurland (to the left of District 2 councilmember Rosie Mendez) has been a Chelsea resident for 15 years.
BY WINNIE McCROY | The New York City that you come to know is different from the one your friends and neighbors see. Each of us holds on to the imprint Gotham has made in our consciousness, be it the era of Studio 54 or the post-9/11 lockdown.
This nostalgic myopia also extends to neighborhoods. You may lay claim to living in Chelsea — but depending on when you arrived, that could be the gritty Chelsea of Hispanic families and mom and pop shops, the 1990s gay wonderland (when all your friends flocked to the Big Cup on Eighth Avenue to cruise) or even the Chelsea of today — where straight families and single women have changed the neighborhood’s residential identity.
In the late ’80s, Chelsea was just beginning to become a haven for adventurous gay men looking for cheap rents, among other things. Eons before walking the High Line, locals would cruise the Meatpacking District on their way to the notorious Anvil Club, or dish dirt with the trannie hookers on Eleventh Avenue.
Back then, lesbians were not a visible presence in the neighborhood.
“Women lived in the city, but not in Chelsea,” recalls longtime lesbian activist Linda Gottlieb. “We were more in the Village, where the bars were. Boys started the trend, and moved into Chelsea in droves. I remember looking at an apartment in the Chelsea Mercantile Building that was $700,000, and passing on it because a friend said it ‘wasn’t a great neighborhood.’ That place is now worth millions of dollars — and that person is no longer a friend.”
Penny Landau has lived on the border of Chelsea, on 13th Street and Seventh Avenue, for almost 19 years. For her, the neighborhood has always been a place for gay men, and, to a lesser extent, lesbians — although she believes the women in Chelsea just tend to be more private.
Far from a wallflower is Chelsea lesbian and attorney Yetta Kurland, who is currently running for City Council to represent District 3. She has lived on Seventh Avenue and 16th Street for about 15 years, with her Italian greyhounds Salvatore and Luca. Kurland said she was drawn to the area for its strong LGBT presence, progressive open-mindedness, appreciation for arts and culture and the historical landmarks, such as the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. She particularly appreciates the diversity of the area.
“I definitely think there are other lesbians who live in Chelsea,” said Kurland. “It is not as black and white as just gay men and lesbians, though. There are people who are straight, and people in marginalized communities within larger communities of power.”
It is this diversity that prompted her to run for City Council. Kurland noted that, “I think even within the LGBT community we need to represent the full diversity, including race and gender expression. We also have to ensure we have policies that promote everybody. In the 21st century, we have to think beyond just gay and straight and think about the community. It’s important to get outside yourself and connect the dots.”
She points to the controversy over stop-and-frisk as an example, noting that while some view this as a policy that targets communities of color, statistics also show that it impacts LGBT people — specifically, transgender youth.
The fact that an openly lesbian candidate can run a credible campaign for a City Council seat representing Chelsea speaks volumes to the neighborhood’s political leanings. But should she win, who will Kurland be representing? Do lesbians live in Chelsea?
Real estate magnate Gil Neary, president of D.G. Neary Realty, has lived in Chelsea for 30 years, and his gay-owned company is responsible for securing housing for a large number of those migrating to the area.
Over the past decade, said Neary, lesbians have moved, “in, out and over,” mostly to Brooklyn, Harlem or New Jersey.
“There is not an influx of gay women coming into the neighborhood,” said Neary. “When we have an open house, it used to be 65 percent gay men and 10 percent lesbians. Now it is 75 percent straights, and the balance is divided among LGBTs.”
Although he has sold apartments to lesbians who were eager to live in Chelsea, Neary said that the neighborhood sociology is more supportive of gay men, with a dwindling but still-ample number of gay bars for men, as well as many businesses owned by (and catering to) gay men.
Renee Richardson looked at many neighborhoods before she bought a home in Chelsea in 2006. Although it wasn’t her original choice, she feels that the area continues to get better and better.
“There are always 24-hour places to go. There are a lot more restaurants, and the High Line brings more and more tourists coming through,” she said. “I don’t need to leave the area too much, and find it incredibly friendly, with people from all walks of life. There are a ton of gay men, a few lesbians, some families and a lot of old people who were living here when Chelsea wasn’t the best place to live.”
Richardson said that she walks her dog around the neighborhood every day, and finds it to be a safe, friendly place to live.
“One thing hasn’t changed; this is still very much a neighborhood,” Landau affirmed. “It is a very chill place to live — very safe and homey. There isn’t a lot of traffic or big trucks, and there are homes — not the high rises of most of the city, though those are springing up more and more. I think that’s why more women and families are moving here.”
New in town, already a fan of Elmo: Heidi Germaine Schnappauf.
FAMILIES AND FOODIES JOIN THE MIX
When stuntwoman Heidi Germaine Schnappauf left Los Angeles earlier this year for the Big Apple, she wanted to live in a place that was gay friendly, and accessible to lots of amenities and public transportation.
“I’m a big foodie, so I love the fact that there’s so many great places like that old Spanish restaurant on Eighth Avenue that has different specials each day, or Elmo, which has the best strawberry shortcake I’ve ever eaten in my life,” she said.
Schnappauf has found that in addition to an LGBT presence, children are now a mainstay on the sidewalks of Chelsea. She tools around town on her Razor Scooter, and is “constantly racing kids in the neighborhood on their scooters.”
“Some parents might not like me talking to their kids, but most say it’s awesome,” said Schnappauf. “I try to stay as childlike as possible.”
Kurland embraces the changes that have happened in her neighborhood throughout the years, bemoaning only the lack of public resources for things like dog runs. Richardson has seen the influx of both dogs and kids grow at a constant pace.
“There are always a ton of kids in the park, and when I drop my dog off for doggie day care, I see lots of kids being dropped off for their day care,” said Richardson. “In my building there are more and more strollers, although the majority of apartments are one-bedrooms. They tend to move out when the children get older.”
Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) Chief Operating Officer Janet Weinberg admits that the neighborhood has gone through some drastic changes since she moved into her place on 23rd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in 1991. Back then, said Weinberg, “Chelsea was not what it is today; it was just starting to build up, but a lot of Latinos and Latinas lived here, and we watched it slowly turn.”
Weinberg’s spouse was running for judge, and needed to reside in Manhattan per the election requirements. The two picked the area because they were priced out of the Village and the Upper West Side, and, as she noted, “We knew we were not quite the Upper East Side type.”
They bought their place, and after the real estate crash in 1997 began to uptick, were surprised to see a sudden influx of gay men who “wanted to move to the Village, but couldn’t afford it.” Said Weinberg, “We were fortunate enough to purchase our apartment in the ’90s, before rents became what they are, because today, I couldn’t afford to live in Chelsea!”
Rents began to rise, and so did the number of families. When Weinberg and her partner first moved in, her building had only a few children in it. Today, she said, “It’s rare to get in the elevator without seeing a stroller or a kid, and I have watched a few kids literally grow up.”
She celebrates the close proximity of her home to the theater district, museums, restaurants, culture, her doctors and her job. Weinberg uses a wheelchair to get around, and said that she never has a bad day when she wheels to the Chelsea Market, takes the elevator to the High Line and rolls across town right to her job at GMHC’s new headquarters on West 33rd Street. When people ask her how she’ll spend her golden years, she tells them she plans to retire right where she is, on 23rd Street.
DIVERSITY BREEDS A STRONGER NEIGHBORHOOD
With the recent rash of anti-gay bias attacks, having a breeding ground for diversity in the heart of the city is not a bad thing. Gays have always been among the first wave of gentrifiers for up-and-coming neighborhoods, and discovering now that they are cheek-by-jowl with straight families is not all bad. Most say they look forward to the next generation of kids growing up with a matter-of-fact acceptance of gay people and, by extension, a supportive perspective on their continuing human rights struggles.
“I think it’s good for kids to grow up with gay role models around them, and to learn that not all gay men are predators, and not all lesbians are stevedores,” said Landau. “That way they won’t grow up prejudiced. They can see all different kinds of families, and learn that there are good and bad gay and straight relationships.”
Schnappauf said that gay boys constantly walk down the street holding hands and kissing, and hopes that the exposure will help build tolerance, remarking, “That’s actually a great thing, and I hope it will end the bias crimes. It shouldn’t matter if there are straight or gay families here.”
For as many different Chelseas as there are — Landau’s uncle’s old neighborhood, Kurland’s proving ground or Schnappauf’s urban oasis — all agree on one thing: Chelsea is a great place to hang your hat.
“I have seen the neighborhood unfold into what is it now, and that is a nice place to live,” said Neary. “It has certainly changed a lot, but mostly for the better.”
Weinberg echoed this sentiment, celebrating the diversity of a neighborhood that has “loads of gay folks, some lesbians and a lot of families. It is a bit more diversified than it was, and I think breaking down barriers and integration of all types is a good thing, and how we learn to live side by side.”
As is the case with many Chelsea residents, Weinberg is pleased that she shares a neighborhood with a mixture of upper-income folks and those in Section 8 housing, saying, “That’s what a neighborhood should be. Homogony is not necessarily a good thing.”
Like Greenwich Village, Chelsea will most likely remain a “gayborhood” for the foreseeable future. But some posit that, with the LGBT community’s growing rights and social acceptance, the era of the “gay ghetto” might be reaching an end.
“When I look at gay marriage and the visibility of gay people in the larger culture, I think people feel less compelled to have to live in a gay neighborhood, especially in New York City,” said Neary. “It is not as necessary to be among comrades, not as uncomfortable to be in mixed circumstances. But Chelsea is still a neighborhood that gay people enjoy living in, because there’s a framework there for an easy life — to grab a beer with friends, go to a restaurant, run a business. That’s what’s keeping gay people in Chelsea.”
