NoHo in Manhattan in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Paresis Hall
Gay Nightlife On The Bowery
— 392 Bowery, now 32 Cooper Square —
Photographed By Larry Gertner, July 17, 2016
1. Paresis Hall Marker
Inscription.
Paresis Hall. Gay Nightlife On The Bowery. On this site once stood the notorious Columbia Hall, one of several Bowery nightspots catering to gay men during the 1890s. Known by anti-vice crusaders as Paresis Hall, it was owned by gangster James T. “Biff” Ellison, who reportedly operated it as a male brothel. Memoirist Ralph Werther recalled the hall differently, as an “innocuous” gathering place for upper and middle class female-impersonators. The upstairs was rented to “Cercie Hermaphroditos,” a club formed “to unite for defense against the world’s bitter persecution” of androgynous men. Historians Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace consider this one of America’s earliest documented gay right organizations. Paresis Hall figures prominently in Caleb Carr’s 1994 novel, The Alienist., Historian George Chauncey suggests that a gay subculture could exist on the Bowery because of its diverse mix of people and heavy concentration of theatres, saloons and red-light elements made it more tolerant of those outside the cultural mainstream., -David Freeland (author Automats, Taxi Dances and Vaudeville
On this site once stood the notorious Columbia Hall, one of several Bowery nightspots catering to gay men during the 1890s. Known by anti-vice crusaders as Paresis Hall, it was owned by gangster James T. “Biff” Ellison, who reportedly operated it as a male brothel. Memoirist Ralph Werther recalled the hall differently, as an “innocuous” gathering place for upper and middle class female-impersonators. The upstairs was rented to “Cercie Hermaphroditos,” a club formed “to unite for defense against the world’s bitter persecution” of androgynous men. Historians Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace consider this one of America’s earliest documented gay right organizations. Paresis Hall figures prominently in Caleb Carr’s 1994 novel, The Alienist.
Historian George Chauncey suggests that a gay subculture could exist on the Bowery because of its diverse mix of people and heavy concentration of theatres, saloons and red-light elements made it more tolerant of those outside the cultural mainstream.
N, 73° 59.484′ W. Marker is in Manhattan, New York, in New York County. It is in NoHo. Marker is on Cooper Square near East 6th Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 32 Cooper Square, New York NY 10003, United States of America. Touch for directions.
More about this marker. One of more than sixty entries in the “Windows on the Bowery” series.
Additional keywords. LGBT, LGBTQ, 🏳️🌈
Photographed By Larry Gertner, July 15, 2016
2. Paresis Hall Marker site
32 Cooper Sqaure
Photographed By Larry Gertner, July 17, 2016
3. Inset
Paresis Hall (arrow)
Photographed By Larry Gertner, July 17, 2016
4. Inset
Gangster James T. “Biff” Ellison
Photographed By Larry Gertner, July 17, 2016
5. Inset
“The Bowery Queen”, drag performer circa 1890s
Credits. This page was last revised on October 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 17, 2019, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. This page has been viewed 2,181 times since then and 201 times this year. Last updated on April 12, 2020, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on July 17, 2019, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
