Weekend Tennis Roundup

Titles for Medvedev, Cobolli, Darderi, Stearns and Bucsa. Full report TK plus all the ATP beef that's fit to post BELOW.

Elmo, Last of the Gay Restaurants, to Close Its Doors

 

I could probably write a thousand word post about all the fun times -- and great meals -- I've had at Elmo in Chelsea over the past two decades. 

But for now I will just share this notice from its owner, who just announced that the venerable eatery -- the last of the gay restaurants in the Big Apple -- is closing on March 13. 

What a sad day in Gay NYC.

Bob Pontarelli writes:

Dear Friends,

For nearly 25 years elmo has been the destination for hundreds of thousands of guests to enjoy some of life’s best moments.

It’s been a place for a first date or dinner with friends. A place for important celebrations and fabulous parties….or simply a place to gather comfortably with members of your community at a home away from home. Elmo has also been a space for hundreds of staff to build lifelong friendships.

We’ve seen marriages between guests and also amongst co-workers. We’ve hosted countless events from birthday parties to memorial services and political fund raisers.

We opened just months after the events of 911 and stayed open and serving food and cocktails through Sandy, several blackouts and record snow falls. We survived COVID with style by launching our wonderfully successful speakeasy, Coby Club. We’ve enjoyed so many proud moments I lost count a long time ago.

It was just confirmed to me that our building—home to elmo for 25 years—has been sold. Our lease expires with that sale. The new owners will soon bring a residential building to our neighborhood.

Sadly, all things must come to an end and elmo will serve its last meal on Friday, March 13.

With this news I personally will try to embrace all the beautiful memories and wonderful experiences elmo has given me and will move forward with new ventures and philanthropic projects that hopefully will have a wide impact.

There are few businesses as challenging or as exciting as owning a restaurant in New York City.

25 years is a very long time. To own a restaurant that has enjoyed the astonishing success and iconic stature that elmo has is a privilege and an honor. It has been a wonderfully exhilarating ride.

I will always remain deeply and profoundly grateful for your years of support and for your friendship.

I’ll see you around.

Bob Pontarelli 

The proposed replacement building 

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Remains of the Day (02/27)

OMG Blog!: Connor Storrie looks ready for prime time ahead of "SNL" duties

WHYY: Philadelphia opens an LGBTQ tourism center in the Gayborhood

Out: Gus Kenworthy's post-Olympic plans? A play called "Sugar Daddy"

Deadline: Tim Daly to star alongside wife Tea Leoni in NBC comedy pilot "Newlyweds"

Saturday 'Stache: Man-spread's best friend

People: Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey reunite almost 40 years after "Beaches"

Instinct: Jacob Elordi is "so freaking delicious" according to Matthew Lillard (and everyone else on Planet Earth)

Out: "Industry" star Kit Harington strips down in sexy new gym selfie

Them: Do women really want their men “a little fruity”?

Erasing 76 Crimes: "Moderate" Indonesia parliament considering dangerous ban on LGBTQ content

THR: Conde Nast’s LGBTQ media brand Them -- which a friend aptly calls "clickbait for the terminally victimized" -- acquired by Equalpride, publisher of Out and The Advocate ... as layoffs abound

Attitude: BBC removed homophobic tic aimed at Alan Cumming, brags(?) Tourette’s activist after BAFTAs backlash, in case you thought he just blurted out hateful comments about women and black people

Socialite Life: Director Todd Stephens takes us back to spring break with "Another Gay Sequel"

The Randy Report: Kansas immediately revokes transgender residents’ driver’s licenses

Speedo Sunday: Booty call

Hot Cat of the Day: Is it 5 o'clock yet?

RIP: Lauren Chapin, who charmed audiences as “Kitten” on "Father Knows Best," has died at 80 after battling cancer for many years

Broadway legend Sondra Lee, a fixture of the original casts of two of the Great White Way’s most beloved shows, has died at 97

Teresa de Lauretis, the scholar who coined “queer theory” for a 1990 conference before later critiquing its mainstream turn, has died at 87

Neil Sedaka, the prolific singer-songwriter behind “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” who also penned hits for the Carpenters, Captain & Tennille and ABBA, has died at 86

Wesley Morris: After a lifetime of gay shame, secrecy and cinematic doom, I almost missed the swoony thrill of "Heated Rivalry" -- until it seduced me too

On the Rag, Vol. 897

 

This week's rag 'n' mag roundup features Mr. Bradford, Paul Anthony Kelly, the men of "Pillion," Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Connor Storrie and more BELOW.

Rob Jetten Sworn In as Netherlands' First Openly Gay Prime Minister

 

You can say that again -- not that Rob Jetten's slab of Argentinian beef field hockey player fiancé Nico Keenan is anything to sneeze at! Read HERE.

Remains of the Day (02/24)

 

Doable Guys: Blending painting, prose, poetry and collage, Jason Haaf and Scooter LaForge’s “Wasteland” plunges readers into a fever dream of intimacy, lust, anger and escape

MetroWeekly: A Tennessee bill would shield individuals and businesses from penalties for refusing to recognize same-sex marriages or provide spousal benefits

Tennis Now: ESPN signs Andy Roddick to multi-year analyst deal

The Body: Managing depression and anxiety while living with HIV requires practical strategies to navigate tough times and protect both mental and physical health

Us Weekly: Trial under way in the murder of gay actor Jonathan Joss, who played Wamapoke Native American elder Ken Hotate on "Parks and Recreation"

Them: No, you're not imagining it: U.S. gay bars are closing their doors at a heartbreaking pace ... revisit my favorites HERE

Red Eye: The acclaimed comedy trio Unitard (Mike Albo, Nora Burns and David Ilku) returns to the Cavern Club on March 7 after a five-year herniated hiatus

Washington Blade: New book profiles LGBTQ Ukrainians, documents war experiences

NYT: Judge blocks enforcement of a first-in-the-nation Texas law banning LGBTQ clubs in K-12 schools in three districts

YNet: LGBTQ domestic violence mirrors straight rates: "If you’re walking on eggshells, don’t wait"

PinkNews: "Heated Rivalry" author Rachel Reid delays "Unrivaled" release as health worsens 

Out: Ethan Daniel Corbett bares all in sexy full-frontal scenes on new show "Laid Bare"

The Guardian: Apparently, lying about being of age to hook up with this guy in 2017 didn’t sit well -- with the person who did the lying

Parade: Remembering the Broadway flop that closed on opening night 43 years ago 

Attitude: Time to fly to London? Catherine Tate lands leading West End role in "Oh, Mary!"(!)

Washington Blade: More than a dozen LGBTQ athletes medal at Olympics

Them: Pope Leo XIV said Catholic doctrine on LGBTQ people will not change soon, calling the issue “highly polarizing”

Advocate: Gay man shot dead outside Orlando club as suspect charged

Hot Cat of the Day: Meet Ajani, thief of seats

 

RIP: Robert Carradine, the star of the "Revenge of the Nerds" series and a beloved member of a Hollywood dynasty, has died by suicide at 71. Today we remember him from his turn as Martha Davis’s lover in the 1983 single Suddenly, Last Summer" by the Motels.

The Caftan Chronicles: The rise of the gay himbo