SLA Raids The Eagle During Gay Marriage Celebration

The big SLA raid this weekend was not on the Lower East Side, but in Chelsea, at leather bar The Eagle, as patrons were celebrating the legalization of gay marriage on Friday night. The bar racked up six violations on the unannounced inspection, including ones for noise and lack of a public assembly permit.

The police are saying this was a routine inspection, planned with MARCH, a program that keeps tabs on local hot spots. But naturally, the timing has raised some eyebrows. Gay rights activist Allen Roskoff tells Gothamist:

In typical New York City Police Department fashion, the N.Y.P.D. demonstrated its disrespect for the gay community by raiding the Eagle mere moments after the passage of [the] most important piece of gay rights legislation in history.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is requesting a formal investigation of the raid, and notes: "This one was ill-conceived and ill-timed given the circumstances surrounding the marriage equality celebration, on Pride week."
· SLA Raids Gay Bar During Gay Marriage Celebration [Gothamist]
· All Nightlife Coverage [~ENY~]
[Photo: NYM/Shanna Ravindra]

The Eagle

554 West 28th Street, New York, NY