One old New York Avenue bar was Val’s, one of three New Jersey bars that went to court to fight discrimination two years before Stonewall, leading to a landmark 1967 New Jersey State Supreme Court ruling outlawing discrimination against gay people. Nearby around zigzagging Westminster Avenue, the old “Snake Alley” of Atlantic City’s historic gay party scene, there is more development underway, including housing and some Airbnbs, part of a wave of short-term rental investment that have spurred the rehab of old housing stock throughout the city. “In Ventnor, you’re paying a half-million dollars to knock down a house in the middle of nowhere to build a new house.”Ĭhelsea is not the first neighborhood people think of when talking about an Atlantic City gayborhood, but Elizabeth Terenik, director of the Chelsea Economic Development Corp., says the area is ripe for investment. “If you’re a first-generation summer buyer, you can buy something for $400K or $600K on the water,” he says. Rosenberger says there are deals in Atlantic City. “You can’t make anyone buy a house anywhere, but one of the things driving our market is the very diversity of the city.” “We want to welcome back the community that has a long storied past in Atlantic City,” said Geoff Rosenberger, a Realtor in Atlantic City who was at Bar 32 on Tennessee Avenue late last month during one of Dorrington’s meetups. » READ MORE: What to do, eat, and see in Atlantic City
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Albany Avenue to the Ventnor border, with its large historic beach block housing stock, is considered Lower Chelsea.) (Chelsea is located in the city’s lower half, bordered by Texas Avenue in the north and Albany Avenue to the south, from ocean to bay. at the Tropicana is planned for April 22. In the Chelsea neighborhood, known for its multicultural restaurants, university district, and stock of old beach homes from the ocean to the bay, there is an effort to market Atlantic City’s undervalued real estate to the LGBTQ+ community. “He took the step so that the community would know Atlantic City stands beside LGBTQ people.”
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“The great thing about what Marty Small did is that he institutionalized something and gave it a certain kind of power,” said Dorrington. to be the city’s first Liaison and Coordinator of LGBTQ+ Programs and Services, with a commitment to the Black and brown queer community. Dorrington was appointed a year ago by Mayor Marty Small Sr. There’s Judah-Abijah Dorrington, 65, a Black nonbinary musician and diversity consultant born and raised in Atlantic City. » READ MORE: Atlantic City: The town built on pineapple martinis Despite varying efforts by casinos to market to LGBTQ tourists Atlantic City’s distinction as one of the only cities to have had an openly gay mayor, Don Guardian, who flew a rainbow flag over a historically gay beach (repeatedly torn down) the endurance of the Miss’d America drag pageant long after Miss America itself left town and the town’s generally welcoming vibe (not to mention its undervalued Shore real estate), the city has some work to do to revive itself as a destination for gay culture and community.