Documentary on NYC Club Edelweiss

[phillip]

Hello everyone, my name is Phillip and I am in the early stages of setting up production to make a documentary on Club Edelweiss that was located in the Hells Kitchen section of New York on 11th avenue and 44th Street (next to the Market Diner) For those of you that don't know, Edelweiss was a club in the 80's & 90's that attracted mostly TG, TS & their admirers, It closed and reopened several times ultimately closing its doors forever after NYPD Detective Gerard McMahon went undercover as "Cindy" and deemed it as a drug and prostitution den.

I am looking to do on camera interviews and/or hear stories of those who went to the club and would like to share their experiences. For those that are not comfortable with being on camera we are also interviewing off camera (audio only as well as creating a silhouette/backlighting you so you cannot make out your features) We would love if you have photos and/or video to share from back in the day. I have had several responses to a local Craigslist ad I posted and things are starting to move forward - We plan on starting photography and interviews in April. Please feel free to message me or respond to the posting with any questions you may have. Thank you very much for your help, I look forward to hearing from you!

Best,
Phillip


Local Craigslist ad:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/cwg/4921532900.html

Articles about the demise of Edelweiss:
http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/1084/

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/26/ny...-dead-yet.html

[Stavros]

I think one or two occasional posters here were regulars at Edelweiss -although I was in New York in the early 80s I dd not know about it, but I hope you get some positive responses and make the film. It was also a hugely important decade -a documentary on the painter David Hockney that was shown on the BBC last night argued that the HIV/AIDS epidemic not only decimated lives but took with it a bohemian sub-culture in New York and that this absence of sexual/cultural danger/experimentation has been one of the major changes that has taken place to the city since then.

[phillip]

Thank you Stavros, I have had a great response locally and I hope to get more people involved. Edelweiss was a wonderful place and it is a shame that the 'gentrification' of New York in the 90's (especially the West Side) ended up closing so many fabulous places. I will have to look up the Hockney documentary, I have not seen it. Thanks so much!

[yourdaddy]

Loved the place !!! I was so infatuated with T-girls that I used to fly to New York from Florida in the late 90's and hang, hoping to meet the hung angel from my fantasies. Went with a blonde bartender for a while who had an affair with Eddie M.. She introduced me to a tall Puerto Rican redhead named Rose that was post-op and lived in the Bronx. Rose was also an Edelweiss bartender and maybe the sexiest, most beautiful and most intelligent ladies ever. If you could find Rose, she'd make a terrific interview.

Good luck and good progress.

[phillip]

Thank you Daddy! I have heard about Crystal, another bartender that was Edelweiss (who I would also LOVE to interview) thank you for mentioning Rose, she sounds lovely and a great person to talk to as well. The more people involved in this Doc the better it will be, I just want Edelweiss to be remembered for the fabulous place it was. It unfortunately ended bad and that is all that came out in the media. I want everyone to also know the good and the positive impact it had in our lives. Thanks so much for the well wishes!

[Yvonne183]

I only went to Edelweiss when it was on 28th street. When it moved uptown I was too lazy to travel up there from the East Village. I'd rather hang out below 14st.

If you do a search on this site using the word Edelweiss, you might find someone who went there.

If I did venture uptown, I'd have went to The Fabric Factory on 41, near 7th avenue.

[Yvonne183]

I think one or two occasional posters here were regulars at Edelweiss -although I was in New York in the early 80s I dd not know about it, but I hope you get some positive responses and make the film. It was also a hugely important decade -a documentary on the painter David Hockney that was shown on the BBC last night argued that the HIV/AIDS epidemic not only decimated lives but took with it a bohemian sub-culture in New York and that this absence of sexual/cultural danger/experimentation has been one of the major changes that has taken place to the city since then.

Hi Starvos, been awhile, hope you're well.

[yourdaddy]

I followed it uptown for a while. I didn't like the new digs, although the clientele got a little crazier. The Puerto Rican bouncer was hot for my girlfriend so the vibes were weird. What I loved best about the new location was that a lot of the girls would start a cock display about five seconds after entering. That's what I call a meat market.

[flabbybody]

what was ever fabulous about it? it hosted illegal and under aged prostitution, dozens of state liquor law violations,illegal drug transactions, and all this in the backdrop of an AIDS epidemic that claimed thousands of lives. I'm not particularly proud to have been a regular patron every time my tranny fix overwhelmed me. But Im baffled that you find something intriguing or worth resurrecting about a very dark side of New York's past.

[LI SEAN08]

Good ole Edelweiss!. Yes I been there many times back in the day. Had many late night or should I say early morning meals at the adjoining diner. I also had oral sex downstairs in the back rooms, as guys and trannys would watch. I had a friend who worked at Crunch Fitness adjacent to the place and he was also into trannys. He would pick one up or I would or we took both and go upstairs to the gym in the dark and do our thing with the gurls. I don't think I ever paid more that 50 back then, and sometimes it was just drinks and a meal at the diner. I would either drive and park in the parking lot form Long island or sometimes just take the LIRR in and walk to Edelweiss. I had many fun times there!!!