| Henrietta Hudson | |
|---|---|
| Henrietta Hudson exterior in 2022 | |
| |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1991 |
| Owner | Lisa Cannistraci |
| Location | 438 Hudson Street, New York City, New York, United States of America |
Henrietta Hudson, originally named Henrietta Hudson Bar & Girl, is a queer [1] restaurant and lounge in Manhattan's West Village neighborhood. [2] It operated as a lesbian bar from 1991 to 2014. Until it rebranded in 2021, [3] it was one of three remaining lesbian bars in New York City. [4] [5] [6] Henrietta Hudson's location is the original location of the Cubbyhole bar, [7] which had the distinction of being lesbian-owned and managed. [8] [9] [10]
Lisa Cannistraci and bar owner Minnie Rivera opened Henrietta Hudson in 1991 as a lesbian-centric bar. [7] The establishment became New York City's longest-operating lesbian bar after the closure of other similar venues. [11] [4] [12] [13] [14] Gay liberation icon Stormé DeLarverie was a bouncer at Henrietta Hudson well into her 80s. [6]
Part of the bar's ongoing evolution included removal of the "lesbian bar" descriptor in 2014. [15] In a 2019 interview, Lisa Cannistraci said she did not "care whether or not it is known specifically as a lesbian bar...I just want people to come and have a great experience." [12] Following its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cannistraci announced plans to rebrand and expand Henrietta Hudson into a "café, lounge, bistro, coffee house, [and] cocktail place". [3] [16] [17]
The rebranding, however, resulted in controversy due to Cannistraci soliciting financial contributions from lesbians with a "Save the Bar" crowdfunding for Henrietta Hudson, [18] [19] [20] and also participating in the Lesbian Bar Project fundraising campaign to save lesbian bars, [21] [22] despite using the donations to reopen the venue as a "queer" space no longer catering exclusively to lesbians. [23]