Candle Bar – New York City T-Shirt Opened: Mid-1960s • Closed: June 22, 2015
For nearly 50 years, Candle Bar stood on Amsterdam Avenue between West 74th & 75th Streets as one of New York City’s most enduring and beloved gay bars — and the last of its kind on the Upper West Side. First attracting a queer crowd in the mid-1960s, when being out in public required courage and community, it became a reliable living room where locals gathered to talk, flirt, laugh, play pool, and make lifelong friendships.
More than a neighborhood bar, Candle Bar was a refuge — the place people called their “gay Cheers” because everyone knew your name and your drink. It stood out in a city where many LGBTQ spaces clustered downtown or in Hell’s Kitchen; Candle kept the Upper West Side alive as a home for queer social life long after similar venues vanished.
That legacy came to an end on June 22, 2015, when the bar’s doors closed for good — a bittersweet moment that marked the passing of an era just as Pride Week began. Its history stretched from a time when gay bars were hidden havens to when queer culture was increasingly visible and celebrated.
