Wow, surprised to hear that Splash will close Aug. 10, after 22 years in business. Truly the end of an era, which included a time when seeing new videos in the front of the joint was where I learned about fun new music. Strangely, I had just been in a gay bar for the first time in ages (Phoenix in the East Village) and was so happy to see how packed it was. I had heard everything had moved to apps and computers, so I was beginning to wonder if the "gay bar experience" -- a touchstone of my gay youth -- even existed anymore. I'm guessing it does, but with Chelsea giving way to Hell's Kitchen as the gay neighborhood, perhaps this has more to do with gentrification than anything else. Still, I'm truly stunned.
![]()
