Have a story about the original Eagle’s Nest? Post it below and share the memories. The video below taken after hours shortly before it’s closing and is all remains other than the memories of its patrons of the infamous gay leather bar. Landlords were not renewing old leases and by the year 2000, Jack Modica chose to retire rather than to reopen The Eagle elsewhere.Īnd while a new version of called the Eagle NYC was reopened on, October 5, 2001, by different owners at 554 W 28th Street it was never the same. Old warehouses were converted into upscale loft buildings or art galleries. By the 90’s the neighborhood was evolving and the frontier was now being gentrified. Cigars, uniforms, poppers, and sex in the bathrooms and backroom were on the menu nightly.īut with the onset of AIDS in the mid – late 80’s, sexual habits were changing and the gay community was reassessing itself. The terrace has seatings for approximately 1 000 people at the same time and offers some really magical views of the Manhattan skyline, with the Empire State Building as a mighty focal point. And was always the place to go.īack in those days it’s patrons loved the isolation and the raw masculinity of this dark sexual playground and bar on the West Side Highway. One of the largest and most famous rooftop bars NYC has to offer, named after its location at 230 5th Ave.
“The Eagle” was open 7 days a week including holidays. With a few coats of black paint and an old beat up motorcycle for decoration, a gay institution was born. Street, NYC’s The Eagle’s Nest was originally a longshoreman’s bar called the Eagle Open Kitchen from 1931 – 1970 which was then acquired by Jack Modica who turned the rough and tumble pub into a Leather/ Levi bar