Ahh, spring – buds blossom, bees buzz,
grass grows green and sweet showers dance earthward. Amid all
this signaling of Mother Nature’s powerful abilities, a single
lesbian in need of a lover may turn her mind to thoughts of romance,
love and perhaps lust.
But where to begin?
Brooklynites, and perhaps all New Yorkers, might automatically
answer: Park Slope. The streets between Fifth and Seventh avenues
have a lot to offer for dinner, drinks, entertainment and even
the morning after.
Meet for drinks
There’s a new five-letter word for love: P-A-T-I-O. Ginger’s
Pub, 363 Fifth Ave. at Fifth Street, and Excelsior, 390 Fifth
Ave. at Seventh Street, both have spacious backyards, allowing
for incognito scoping of the same-sex from behind sunglasses,
or serving as a respite from a noisy interior when you’ve connected
with someone that you’d like to get to know better.
Under disco balls suspended from a tin ceiling, a bevy of lesbians
and their friends crowd the bar at Ginger’s, which is elbow-to-elbow
most weeknights and weekends. In the rear past the jukebox, couches
crammed with pretty young things in jeans and short haircuts
ring the pool table. Mondays feature live jazz.
"It’s a nearby, convenient place to go with friends,"
said Kate Skeele, 22, a recent college graduate from Massachusetts
who said she moved to Park Slope because it’s "more of a
neighborhood than Williamsburg and cheaper than Manhattan."
"I think it’s a dive, but I love a good dive," Skeele
said of Ginger’s.
For a more upscale environment, head to Excelsior. It’s a gay
bar, and the only one of its kind in Park Slope, according to
bartender Cliff Turner (although there is THAT Bar in nearby
Carroll Gardens), but don’t be surprised to see members of the
Flamingoes, reigning champions of the Prospect Park Women’s Softball
League, whooping it up there after a game.
"Excelsior is for men, but it’s the nicest bar in the neighborhood
for gay people by far," said Flamingo Jennifer Boc, a Park
Sloper since 1994.
Eating out
For Manhattanite Alex Fisher, who is bisexual, Park Slope is
one of the few New York neighborhoods where she feels able to
"go into a restaurant [with my ex-girlfriend] as a couple
and be acknowledged as a couple and not as friends." Places
like The Rising Cafe, 186 Fifth Ave. at Sackett Street, with
gay staff and gay music acts, have probably helped Park Slope
earn this reputation as a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-welcoming
neighborhood.
At the Rising, the December addition of Sweet Mama’s chef Terrie
Mangrum’s Southern-fried kitchen coincided with a shift to a
more mixed crowd, said Rising co-owner Anne Maegli.
"We’re trying to be a mixed community space that’s gay friendly,"
she said, emphasizing the profile of music acts like Girlyman
and Cat Martino. "This part of Park Slope is bedroomy [sic],
we’re not really trying to be a singles scene." Still, it
seems a nice place for a first date.
Playing together
After dinner, it’s time for dessert. Conveniently located just
a few storefronts from Ginger’s Pub, the Pink Pussycat Boutique,
355 Fifth Ave. at Fifth Street, doesn’t sell sweets, but does
offer a selection of toys and accessories to spice up an evening
at home, should things move past the cuddling stage.
For those more interested in team sports, there is the Prospect
Park Women’s Softball League. Tryouts are over for this season,
but spectators and cheerleaders are always welcome to nightly
games beginning at 6:25 pm sharp, Monday through Friday, in field
1 of Prospect Park, easily accessible via the 15th Street entrance.
Flamingoes coach Joan Scholvin stresses that the league is open
to all women, although the vast majority are lesbian or bisexual.
The schedule of matches is online at www.ppwsl.org.
Healthy love
There’s something about healthy eating that sets a lesbian’s
heart racing, at least according to Becca Elish, the mastermind
behind the "queer-friendly vegan potluck" at the Park
Slope Food Co-op. Non-Co-op-members are welcome at this monthly
event, which takes place the second Friday of every month at
the Co-op, 782 Union St. at Seventh Avenue. A few lucky individuals
may come away with more than a belly full of tofu and salad.
Elish said that nearly a year ago, when she held the first potluck,
"I didn’t have a girlfriend." Now she laughingly admits
to having made "at least three" connections since then.
Admission is $3. Bring a vegan dish to share with six.
The Co-op itself has its fair share of lesbian love matches.
"Lesbians seem to be into health food and co-operative living.
Gays are always looking for an open environment where you can
feel comfortable no matter where you are," said Co-op office
coordinator Karen Mancuso, 29, who met her girlfriend at the
Co-op.
"As far as why lesbians are into tofu, I don’t know why,"
she said. "It’s like this hotbed of female lesbian activity."
All prospective Co-op members must attend a two-hour orientation
before joining, as well as pay a one-time joiner’s fee of $25
and a $100 investment fee. Members must also work a 2 hour and
45 minute shift every four weeks.
So hasten forth, single lesbians of Park Slope, and try your
luck at these locations. And while there’s no guarantee that
you’ll find Melissa, Martina, Rosie, k.d. or Ellen there, remember,
there’s even less chance of finding love at home, on the couch
with the cat.
Excelsior, 390 Fifth Ave. at Seventh
Street, (718) 832-1599.
Ginger’s Pub, 363 Fifth Ave. at Fifth Street, (718) 788-0924.
Park Slope Food Co-op, 782 Union St. at Seventh Avenue, (718)
622-0560, www.foodcoop.com
Pink Pussycat Boutique, 355 Fifth Ave. at Fifth Street, (718)
369-0088
Prospect Park Women’s Softball League, Prospect Park, field 1,
enter at 15th Street, www.ppwsl.org
THAT Bar, 116 Smith St. at Dean Street, (718) 260-8900, www.thatbar.net.
The Rising/Sweet Mama’s, 186 Fifth Ave. at Berkeley Place, (718)
622-5072, www.therisingcafe.com.
