Book Talk: Queer Happened Here

EventIn Person

In Partnership with Housing Works

On Wednesday, June 25 from 5-7PM, join us for another Municipal Art Society + Housing Works book talk! Writer Marc Zinaman will discuss his new book, Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places, with Teddy Pecora and Michele Saunders. The group will talk all things queer nightlife, highlight the histories of some of Manhattan’s most beloved bars and clubs.

Written by Marc Zinaman with a foreward by Peppermint, Queer Happened Here is “a unique visual history of New York City’s queer spaces documents the evolution of LGBTQ+ culture, community, and activism within Manhattan’s dynamic landscape over the course of a century, spanning from 1920 to 2020” (Prestel). Come by on Wednesday, June 25 to hear the group talk all things queer nightlife.

Doors at 5 PM, event at 5:15 PM. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Questions? Email us at events@mas.org.

About the Book

New York’s LGBTQ+ history is everywhere, but rarely is it visibly documented. Aside from current venues and a handful of landmark plaques, important queer spaces from the city’s past have otherwise been forgotten about, or remain entirely hidden.

This multifaceted book joyfully and poignantly explores a century of LGBTQ+ gathering spaces across Manhattan through hundreds of historic photographs, flyers, posters, club membership cards, magazine spreads, and more. Author Marc Zinaman’s carefully researched, engaging text includes first-person accounts and little-known facts that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking.

From 1920s bathhouses, drag balls, and the ascent of homophobia during World War II, to the protests and parades of the 1960s and 1970s, to the horrors of AIDS; from the vibrant nightlife scene of the 1990s to 2018’s Rainbow Wave, which saw a record number of queer elected officials in the US, to the rise of geosocial dating apps, every major milestone of LGBTQ+ social history is thoughtfully documented.

The result is a powerful and compelling testament to the endurance of queer culture, and an important contribution to its preservation and celebration. Learn more about the book >

Wednesday, June 25
5:00 PM — 7:00 PM

Housing Works Bookstore
126 Crosby Street
New York, NY 10012

Tickets:
Free!

Attend
  • Queer Happened Here by Marc Zinaman. Photos: Penguin Random House / Prestel.
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  • Marc Zinaman (Featured Writer) in conversation with Michele Saunders and Teddy Pecora.
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Meet the Speakers

Marc Zinaman, Featured Writer

Marc Zinaman is a New York City-based writer and historian. Since 2021, he has been running the social media account @Queer_Happened_Here, which maps the forgotten LGBTQ+ history of the city. He has also been a contributing writer for the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project and Making Queer History website. He was the contributing editor of the book Getting In: NYC Club Flyers from the Gay 1990s, and currently serves on the planning committee for the forthcoming American LGBTQ+ Museum.

Teddy Pecora
I am a 71 year old retired New York City teacher. I became a teacher after 9/11 as a second career. I taught elementary school ( Grades k-6) for 21 years in Rego Park. I hold two Master degrees, an MAT from CUNY@Queens College and a MSED in School Administration from St Johns University. I also hold a BA in Human Relations/Psychology and English Lit from Pace University. Prior to 9/1 I was in direct marketing/advertising for large ad agencies such as Wunderman, Ricotta and Kline, Ogilvy and Mather Direct and Messner as Production/Traffic Executive. I own a country home in Litchfield County that was built in 1835 and currently reside here. Currently, I am a director on the board of directors of our town library. I have a partner, Robert who is also a working teacher and we just celebrated 20 years together this past August. We also share an apartment in NYC-Hells Kitchen. I came to NYC in the summer of 1972 and have been here for 53 years

Michele Saunders
Born and raised in Paris, France, Michele Saunders has always been a trailblazing rebel who followed where the music has led her. Throughout her childhood, she was inspired by American music, from jazz, to R&B to Motown. She was also passionate about skiing, but after recuperating from a ski accident when she was 18, her interests in music eventually brought to America where she studied at Mt Holyoke before finding her place in the world of art and style in New York, where she became an energetic force at the renowned nightclub, the Paradise Garage. The Garage had a profound impact on her life, furthering her love of dance and dance music. It became her second home, a place where she forged lifelong relationships with dancers, artists and house music DJ’s (David DePino, Louie Vega, David Morales, Joey Llanos, Timmy Regisford, Francois K and Kenny Carpenter). During her time in New York, Michele also began representing fashion photographers and illustrators, and made a name for herself in the music industry as a music manager for acts like Serious Intention, and as a stylist/producer for photoshoots and videos for Elton John, Diana Ross, LL Cool J, Luther Vandross and many others. Her life and work has been featured in publications such as Document (in conversation with Honey Dijon and Frankie Knuckles), Vice, and Love Injection, she’s toured recently with the Ephrat Asherie Dance production of UNDERSCORED, and she can be seen in the new BBC documentary, Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution, talking about the influence of Paradise Garage and house music. Michele is now a realtor and location scout in Catskill, NY and, at the age of 80, continues to dance, perform, and produce events with today’s artists and creative thinkers, connecting the legacy of the past with energized movements of today