Brooklyn's Oldest Lesbian Bar Cancels "Majority" of Pride Month DJ Events Due to Noise Calls

"Ginger's in Brooklyn is the sort of in-the-know watering hole that has been featured on The Cut and Cond Nast Traveler. No guide to queer nightlife in New York City is complete without a mention of the Park Slope hotspot. It has historical significance as well: Opened in 2000, it is now Brooklyn's oldest lesbian bar, only closing for 19 months during the COVID-19 pandemic, but otherwise staying in continuous operation."

"In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Ginger's announced that it will have to "cancel the majority of our DJ events during Pride this year" because of "ongoing noise complaints in the neighborhood." "As much as we love turning up the music and creating space for queer joy, we also want to remain respectful of the neighborhood we have called home for the past 20 years, and our space that has been a neighborhood bar for over 100 years," the team wrote."

"The decision led to immediate outrage from those in New York's queer nightlife and art scenes. "People will really move into an apartment above a bar and then be mad they moved into an apartment above a bar," wrote DJ Stargrl. "No lie why doesn't the community collectively meet up every week and scream in neighborhoods being affected by gentrification because at this point..." wrote art director Roxanne Castro."

"Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood was gentrified in the late 20th century but is undergoing a process in the 21st that scholars call "super-gentrification," described by SUNY New Paltz sociologist Judith Halasz as "the further upscaling of already gentrified neighborhoods with the in-migration of upper-income residents and displacement of middle c"

Ginger’s in Brooklyn is a long-running lesbian bar in Park Slope, opened in 2000 and operating continuously except for a brief COVID-19 closure. The bar announced that it will cancel most DJ events during Pride because of ongoing noise complaints in the neighborhood. The team said it wants to create space for queer joy while remaining respectful to the community it has served for decades. The decision triggered immediate outrage from figures in New York’s queer nightlife and art scenes, with criticism aimed at residents who complain about noise from a neighborhood bar. The controversy connects to broader neighborhood change, including gentrification and “super-gentrification,” involving displacement and rising incomes.

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