Danny's — Brooklyn Heights 1970s Vintage Gay Bar Tee

Located at 108 Montague Street, in the heart of Brooklyn Heights, Danny's was one of the neighborhood's popular gay gathering places during the early 1970s, when Brooklyn had a thriving gay scene of its own.

By November 1971, Danny's was appearing in the gay newspaper GAY, described as a piano bar and one of the focal points of the neighborhood's social life.

In March 1972, the same publication called Danny's a social center in what it described as Brooklyn Heights' wonderfully sociable "gay ghetto."

Yes, Brooklyn Heights had a gay ghetto.

Unlike the enormous discos that would eventually dominate gay nightlife, Danny's offered something a little more intimate: a neighborhood piano bar where men could meet friends, enjoy a cocktail, listen to music, and perhaps find somebody interesting to take home.

By October 1972, the bar was being advertised as Danny's Brooklyn Heights, featuring two floors of entertainment under the supervision of a host named Paul.

Just down the street stood another gay piano bar at 103 Montague Street, while nearby Man's Country Baths, at 53 Pierrepont Street, offered gentlemen a considerably different sort of recreational experience.

A piano bar, a neighborhood pub, and a bathhouse all within a few blocks.

During the early 1970s, these establishments played an important role in New York's emerging gay community. Following the 1969 Stonewall uprising, gay men were becoming increasingly visible, and neighborhood bars like Danny's provided places to socialize and build friendships outside the better-known gay enclaves of Manhattan.

They weren't just places to drink.

They were places to belong.