This was the first reaction on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms on Tuesday: The closure of Splash is the final nail in the coffin of gay Chelsea following the recent and not-so-recent shuttering of other gay haunts, like Big Cup, the Roxy, Rawhide, Food Bar and. International tourists using dated (print) gay guides to Manhattan, slightly-past-their-prime visitors from the Midwest eager to go back to the '90s, when Splash (and they) were at their most powerful, and of course a steady stream of bridge-and-tunnel clientele kept the place in business, but actual New York gays had long migrated to Hell's Kitchen, Brooklyn and points far beyond the '90s gay enclave of Chelsea. Splash has had a great run in the fickle world of New York City nightlife, but as any gay man (and it is mostly gay men who frequent Splash) who actually resides in New York City could tell you (and boy will they tell you), the bar has largely fallen off the radar in the past few years.
It was a smart move to post the note online, as most of the folks kvetching about the pending closure would have never noticed the actual note had it been posted on the door of the West 17th Street club itself. On Tuesday social media were abuzz after the iconic New York City gay bar Splash posted an online notice about shutting its doors after 22 years of go-go boys, stiff drinks, and general gay debauchery.
