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Friday, February 25, 2005
The dance floor made famous by John Travolta will be auctioned on April 1. The New York Times reported on Sunday, Feb. 20, that Spectrum, a gay disco at 64th street and Eight Avenue in Bay Ridge, closed its doors for good on Feb. 12. Its owner, Jay Rizzo, who owned the club since 1987, wanted to take some time off from 60 to 70 hours work week, according to the Times. Rizzo said people would frequently visit the club to look at the dance floor made famous as the place where Travolta, as Tony Manero, shook his booty in the phenomenally popular film “Saturday Night Fever.” “I guess it was on a list somewhere of things to see in New York, “ Rizzo said. “They would take a cab from Manhattan just to see the dance floor and of course we wouldn’t charge them.” Rizzo did not disclose the name of the club’s buyer. But he did say it was a real estate investment company and they planned to tear the club down. The dance floor, measures 384 square feet and its sale is being handled by Profiles in History, a Beverly Hills, California company. On the club’s last night, many people came for a fond goodbye. “It was emotional,” Eddie Rivera told the Times. Rivera has been the club’s Saturday night DJ for seven years. “People were coming that hadn’t been there in years,” he said. “A good customer came into the booth and just started crying.”
A Milford, Conn., church has seen an increase in its membership now that it welcomes gays and lesbians. In the Feb. 16 New Haven Register, Rev. Paige Besse-Rankin said her church, the Woodmont United Church of Christ, Congregational, has seen at least 30 new members sign up after the church announced it would welcome gays and lesbians. “People are looking for a place to go,” Besse-Rankin said. “Our numbers are increasing and that is likely part of it. The 164-member church recently voted to make it an Open and Affirming congregation, which is a program that encourages full participation of gay congregants. There are 20 UCC churches in the state with a similar policy. Besse-Rankin said the church would perform civil unions.
A Brooklyn man’s limbs were found in a plastic bag about two miles from his home last week. In a Feb 19 New York Times article, police said they were searching for a man who supposedly the victim, Rashawn Brazell, had planned to meet. Brazell had told family he was going to get his taxes prepared on Monday, Feb. 14, He did not pick his taxes and his mother was concerned when he did not call on Tuesday. Apparently he called home everyday. Relatives reported him missing on Wednesday. While police are unsure of motives, a police official did say friends said Brazell was going to meet someone. “We heard from friends that he was going to hook up with someone for a tryst,” said an unidentified police official in the article. “The guy was from out of town, or they were going to go out of town.” Investigators do have the first name of the man. Presently the crime is not being investigated as a bias crime. The young man’s mother, Desire Brazell, did not know of any male friends her son may have had. “He had girlfriends,” she said in the article. “The only thing I can think of is jealousy and hate.”
Food trucks at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. were aparently selling sandwiches called “Fat Dyke” and “Fat Bitch.” The trucks, which park along the College Avenue campus, are licensed by the university, according to 365gay.com. After complaints from gay organizations and several female students the university ordered the names to be taken down. Sam Algar, owner of one truck, told The Star-Ledger of Newark, that it was all harmless fun. “It not like it’s a bad thing, he said. “I’m not trying to discriminate or anything. It’s extraordinary. It’s funny.” Sandra Lanman, a university spokesperson, said the vendor’s obligations include “showing respect to all students, faculty and staff, and operating in a professional courteous manner.” Steve Goldstein, the chairman of Garden State Equality, added, “These sandwich businesses mange to be sexist, homophobic, and offensive all in one grand slam. This is how hate crimes start, when people feel it’s OK to make biased comments publicly.”
CHICAGO (AP) — After being criticized by gay and lesbian groups, the president of the American Medical Association said late last week that his views were misrepresented in a newspaper article that quotes him defending a Roman Catholic-affiliated medical school’s decision to ban a gay student group. The Journal News of White Plains, said Dr. John Nelson likened the ban at New York Medical College to Brigham Young University’s decision to suspend four former football players accused of rape, and with the Mormon school’s refusal to allow caffeinated soft drinks on campus. Joel Ginsberg, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, said Nelson’s comparison criminalized and trivialized homosexuality, and prompted dozens of complaints to his organization. “His comments were inappropriate and hurtful,” Ginsberg said. Nelson issued a statement saying his views “were grossly misrepresented” by the Feb. 12 article.
From staff and wire reports
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