NEW YORK CITY: Charges Dropped In 2014 Attack On Eagle Bartender

Last summer NYC Eagle bartender Paul Martone was left in critical condition after an altercation with a stranger on a Hell's Kitchen street. Several days later Martone's assailant [photo] was identified and apprehended in part due to a video of the incident which went globally viral, spawning a heated social media discussion on whether Martone had instigated the attack. Yesterday charges against Martone's assailant were dismissed.

Charges were dropped Tuesday against a man accused of punching another man in the face following an argument in Hell’s Kitchen last summer. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office dropped charges against Corey Pohan, 32, on the grounds that the case could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, CBS2 confirmed. Pohan was allegedly seen on video punching Paul Martone, 55, in the face on the corner of 55th Street and Ninth Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen in July, police said. Sources told CBS 2 the incident with Martone started when Pohan allegedly stepped over Martone’s dog, leading to a quarrel. After being punched, Martone fell backwards and hit his head on the pavement. He suffered a serious head injury. Pohan was tracked down in New Jersey, and was later hit with separate charges of criminal trespassing there after police said he climbed on top of a toll plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike while being transported to New York City.

(Tipped by JMG reader Mick)

NEW YORK CITY: Cops Collar Suspect In Street Attack On Eagle Bartender

On Tuesday night. New York City Eagle bartender Paul Martone, 49, was left in critical condition after hitting his head on a Hell's Kitchen street following a punch by a stranger with whom he had argued about his dog. Martone's condition was upgraded to stable last night and today the NYPD reports that the attacker has been arrested.

Corey Pohan, 32, was found hiding at his mother’s Lakewood, New Jersey, home on Wednesday, after a tipster recognized him from a shocking video of the single punch that left 49-year-old Paul Martone on his back, the sources said. Martone — who hit his head on the pavement when he fell from the blow at Ninth Ave. and W. 55th St. early Tuesday — was in stable condition at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center on Thursday. The wild confrontation erupted after Pohan allegedly stepped over Martone’s pet pooch to get to the sidewalk, sources said. Martone yelled at him and pushed Pohan — who turned around and slugged Martone, knocking him to the ground. A witness used a cell phone to record the attack, which a witness recorded with a cell phone. Detectives went to New Jersey after they identified the suspect. Pohan initially surrendered and was on his way back across the Hudson River until he suddenly changed his mind and jumped out of the car near the Lincoln Tunnel, sources said. Local authorities were called to arrest Pohan, who was taken into custody at the scene.

Pohan remains in a New Jersey jail while awaiting extradition. The incident has turned into a minor social media sensation over whether Martone had instigated the confrontation.

NEW YORK CITY: Eagle Bartender In Critical Condition After Hell's Kitchen Street Attack, Cops Ask Public For Help

A bartender at the New York City Eagle is in critical condition after hitting his head on a Hell's Kitchen street following a punch from an attacker yesterday. His assailant remains at large.

A dog owner was in critical condition with a fractured skull after a man knocked him to the ground with one punch during an argument over his Chihuahua, neighbors and sources said. Paul Martone, 49, was at the corner of West 55th Street and Ninth Avenue about 6:30 p.m. when a blond man stepped over his dog — which neighbors identified as Peanut — to get onto the sidewalk, offending the victim and sparking an argument, sources said. The suspect shoved Martone before punching him in the face, knocking him to the ground and then fled the scene. The attack was caught on surveillance footage. Martone's head struck the pavement, fracturing his skull and possibly causing swelling to his brain, police said. He was in critical condition at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital, police said.

The NYPD is asking for the public's help in identifying Martone's attacker. Call their tip line at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). At present, there is no indication that the assault was a bias crime.

DC Eagle To Close

Washington DC's Eagle nightclub will close at the end of the month as its owners seek a new location.

Eagle manager Ted Clements said the bar plans to hold a closing party on Nov. 25, with the hope that the popular establishment will have lined up a new location shortly before or after that date. “We’re trying to find a building,” he told the Blade. “This will be the fourth location. We keep getting pushed around from the development in this area. We’ve been in a four-block radius for the past 40 years.” The Douglas Development Corporation, one of the city’s largest real estate developers, has announced plans to build a new high-rise office building with retail businesses on the 600 block of New York Ave., N.W., where the Eagle and other businesses are now located. The site is one block away from the Washington Convention Center.

Jackass 3D Screens At The LA Eagle

The producers of Jackass 3D gave a sneak preview to some patrons of the Los Angeles Eagle last week. Cast member Steve-O told Vanity Fair that all the Jackass movies are not-so-subtle attacks on homophobia.

We always thought it was funny to force a heterosexual MTV generation to deal with all of our thongs and homoerotic humor. In many ways, all our gay humor has been a humanitarian attack against homophobia. We’ve been trying to rid the world of homophobia for years, and I think gay people really dig it too.

TRAILER: Bear City

UPDATE: You can catch a glimpse of our own Father Tony dancing as an extra at the 1:43 mark in the clip.

Weekend Mix - DJ Paul Ferrer

Turn up the volume on your weekend with this pumping vocal house mix from popular NYC DJ Paul Ferrer. Setlist. Website. Podcasts. Facebook.

RESIDENCY: The NYC Eagle every Sunday from 5pm to 10pm on the roof in the summertime. (Or down and dirty on the first floor when weather doesn't permit.)

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: DJ Shane Stiel. DJ Paul Goodyear. DJ Susan Morabito. DJ Seymour Butz. DJ RuBot. DJ Rotten Robbie. DJ Ted Eiel. DJ Herbie James. DJ David Knapp. DJ Dave Huge. DJ Corey Craig.

WEDNESDAY: NYC Eagle & Lambda Legal Solidarity Fundraiser For Atlanta Eagle

Tomorrow, Wednesday May 12th, the NYC Eagle will host a benefit for Lambda Legal in solidarity with the Atlanta Eagle, who was the subject of a ridiculous raid last September. All patrons and employees were found not guilty last month, but Lambda Legal's lawsuit against the city of Atlanta, their police chief, and 48 police officers will continue. The Atlanta City Commission subpoenaed 18 officers to tell their side of the story, but at last report only one has complied. The NYC Eagle event will feature an open bar and a silent auction with music by DJ Rich King. Advance tickets are $50, RSVP online here.

NYC Eagle To Host Lambda Legal Benefit

On May 12th the NYC Eagle will host a benefit for Lambda Legal in solidarity with the Atlanta Eagle, who was the subject of a ridiculous raid last September. All patrons and employees were found not guilty last month, but Lambda Legal's lawsuit against the city of Atlanta, their police chief, and 48 police officers will continue. The Atlanta City Commission subpoenaed 18 officers to tell their side of the story, but at last report only one has complied. The NYC Eagle event will feature an open bar and a silent auction with music by DJ Rich King. Advance tickets are $50, RSVP online here.

NYC: Calling All Extra Bears

The producers of a film to be called Bear City has issued a casting call for extras for scenes to be filmed over three nights at the NYC Eagle.

CASTING BACKGROUND BEARS & CUBS!!! Casting call for indie feature "BearCity," a gay romantic comedy set in New York's gay "Bear" scene. Being developed/produced in association with TLA Releasing (Another Gay Movie, Bear Cub). HIGHLIGHTS: Monday Night, August 24, 2009 THE EAGLE - ROOF DECK OPENING PARTY! Friday Night, August 28, 2009 THE EAGLE - YOU GOT MAIL PARTY SCENE! Saturday, August 29, 2009 - ENDING DANCE SCENE & LOUNGE - WRAP PARTY!!! FOOD & COPY OF THE FILM PROVIDED.

"Food provided." THAT is a bear casting call.

Craig Wins, Ted Eiel Spins

This week's swag winner is Craig, who iPhoned us his photo from the locker room of his gym upon receiving notification of his win. Craig and a friend will attend Afterhours, DJ Junior Vasquez' closing set at Black Party XXX (NSFW). Advance tickets for Black Party XXX are available online; tickets for Afterhours are $50 and available at the door only at 10AM. All Afterhours ticket buyers (and Craig) will get advance copies of Junior's new CD, Generation Next, which goes on sale April 7th.

In other leathery news, tomorrow Chicago-based DJ Ted Eiel plays the NYC Eagle. Friends of mine have been raving about Ted for ages and last year I started subscribing to his fantastic podcasts, which you can get free on iTunes. I don't usually go out the night before Black Party as PawPaw needs his disco nap coma these days, but I'll make an exception this year.

Billy Ray Leatherman

NYC Eagle, Sunday 9PM

So I'm standing there at the bar being chatted up by a pleasant leather dude who was rocking the most ferocious mullet seen since Journey's last world tour. When he turned to order a drink, a friend of mine sidled up to whisper, "Don't break his heart. His achy-breaky heart."

I love my people.

Homo Office

NYC Eagle, Thursday, 2am

Bear 1: I need to find a more gay-positive working environment.

Bear 2: Oh, really? Where do you work?

Bear 1: At home.

GB:NYC 5: Bloggers, Bears, And A Mutant

On Friday night, the Farmboyz, Tater, and I started our weekend way uptown in the triple-digits at the book launch party for Joel Derfner's Swish, where I grabbed this shot of Joel and his editor, Andrew Corbin. Next stop was the opening party for GB:NYC-5 at the HK Lounge in Hell's Kitchen, where it got so crowded that our nametags were the only way to distinguish the bloggers from the blogless. There was immediate blogger-on-blogger action.

Saturday arrived sunny and warm, but our picnic on Central Park's Bear Hill was slightly disappointing in that due to the set up for the AIDS Walk, the weekly roller-disco did not take place. Without the usual wacky cast of roller-weirdos to entertain us, Eric Leven picked up the slack and produced his double-dutch jump ropes.

It turned out that nobody else could actually double-dutch, so after Eric demonstrated some fancy single-rope moves (below, with Mike on the left), Little David had a few spins (second photo below, with me in the red hat taking pics.) Second photo by Stash, who has some great shots of the picnic here.
The rain returned in the evening, turning the Furball at the LGBT Center into a muggy, sweaty, mancrush - which was actually kinda perfect. Little David (below) was particularly pleased with DJ Man Parrish's retro-80's set, but I spent most of the Furball in the first floor disco grooving to legendary DJ Frankie Knuckles (second photo below). Important dance music trivia: house music gets its name from the style pioneered by Knuckles during his residency at Chicago's Warehouse club, hence his moniker, "The Godfather Of House." And yes, he did play The Whistle Song, which never fails to give me goosebumps.After the Furball, most of the crew headed uptown to the Eagle, where the rain had finally let up and we found the roofdeck in its usual Saturday night state. As an interesting conclusion to the evening, we found ourselves parked a couple of feet away from a probably psychotic man who was talking non-stop to himself.

A paraphrased sampling: "Why is it that your many feeble minds cannot penetrate mine, while I can penetrate yours so easily? You do not know of the star fire and my power. You inferior beings, you humans. You know not the power of the mutant, you restless, thoughtless humans who spew your idiocy on the internet." I was standing closest to him, so I was repeating him to everybody, which he eventually confronted me on, saying, "You useless human! Why do you steal my words? You do not know their POWER!" I said, "Oh, we just think you're saying some very interesting things," and then I introduced myself. He said, "My name is Manic, human." Indeed. As crazy as he probably is, it was all rather performance arty. I bet they'd line up in the East Village to hear him.

Overall, another great GB:NYC. Lots of new friends and good times with folks we get to see far too rarely. I think we had about 40-50 bloggers taking part this year, and we're looking forward to even more for GB:NYC-6. Big thanks to Little David and Father Tony for organizing!

Good Work Wednesday

A Chinese auction at NYC Eagle this Saturday will benefit Braking The Cycle and the NYC LGBT Center.

Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 10pm, Team Eagle is hosting a fundraising auction at the Eagle with some great items on the block including, a Poker Party for 8, an LAPD Helmet, Movie Bundle from HERE TV, Private cooking lesson for 4 from Tim Shaw (Chef to the stars), clothing from Slick it Up, Inseam, Direktor and The Leatherman, Chelsea Piers gym and "W" hotel packages, and much much more!

This year's Braking The Cycle AIDS ride will go from Gettysburg to Manhattan on September 26-28.

Poi Dog Pondering And Habibi

Last night the Farmboyz and I attended the Poi Dog Pondering concert at the Bowery Ballroom, the first time seen them since I had pretty much ignored them on some multi-act bill back in Florida a dozen or more years ago. Poi Dog's style is impossible to pigeonhole - they're a bizarre melange of blues, disco, house, and Hawaiian, with not a little Irish folk thrown in.

Last night's 23-song set included much of their early hits like Complicated, but also leaned heavily on their just-released seventh studio album, 7. The highlight of the show for me was their cover of Ten City's That's The Way Love Is, one of my favorite early house tracks. Poi Dog's current eight-piece ensemble has one of the highest levels of musicianship you'll likely experience live; I recommended catching them on the rest of this tour, which hits Philly, Baltimore, and Boston over the next three nights.

After the show, we headed for Habibi, the gay Arab party which has moved around Manhattan for the last couple of years. We've always wanted to attend Habibi, so when we heard that this month's event would be at the Eagle, of all places, we couldn't resist. We walked into the lower level to see that they were finally using their recently-acquired cabaret license. The pool table was removed for dancing and with Arab techno blasting and Bollywood videos on the big screen - the place was jumping and packed.

In fact, I had to tell Father Tony that I hadn't seen so much fun being had at the Eagle in a long time. At one point, a gorgeous female belly-dancer displaced the shirtless Arab hotties on the go-go platform and performed with a tray of lit candles balanced on her head as hooting men threw dollar bills at her feet. DJ I.Z.'s music was fantastic and I was reminded of my brief obsession with bhangra-techno back in the early 90's. Some Jordanian guy told me that I.Z. was playing songs in Arabic, Turkish, and Hindi, but the crowd seemed to react to each of them equally well and the dancers near us sang along to almost everything.

Habibi is Arabic for "my beloved male friend" and as the night wore on, there was a lot of belovin' goin' on. Since so many of last night's songs seemed to have the word "habibi" in them, Father Tony speculated that the word might be an Arabic music version of "corazon", the word that appears in most Spanish pop songs. Here's a video played last night, German pop duo Milk & Honey's Habibi (Je T'aime.)

Voice Choice

From the Village Voice's Best Of NYC 2007:

Best Place For Gay Men Of A Certain Bent To Smoke, Cruise, And Maybe Even Get Their Wescos Polished - The Eagle

Despite AIDS, changing fashions in sex and sexuality, and the West Side real-estate boom that continues to devastate area nightlife, crowds of he-men still flock to New York's sole serious butch bar, The Eagle, to drink, drug, pose, shoot pool, tease the bootblack, buy a cock ring or other sundry, and perhaps even find love—or its approximation. If you missed the recent screenings of William Friedkin's boneheaded, vastly entertaining film Cruising (1980) and/or are too young to remember the original Eagle (or the Lure, or the Mineshaft), then this establishment is the closest you'll likely get to the rampant machismo and the leather/S&M culture that for a time defined the meatpacking district— and, by extension, a generation of gay men looking for role models other than fluttery florists and Franklin Pangborn. Saturday night is when the wannabe cops, truckers, cowboys, and other tough-guy fantasists gather in full force here; it's particularly festive on holidays and special-events weekends, such as the recent Mr. Eagle competition. A fetish dress code (leather/rubber, uniforms, jockstraps, gas masks, etc.) is strictly enforced on Thursday nights, and early evenings on Sundays are often bearish and lively—especially after the bar-sponsored rugby matches and softball home games. The real attraction, though, is the Eagle's roof deck: a zillion square feet of landscaped decking with lots of bench seating and seductive nooks. There's a full bar, plus a stunning view of the massive, streamlined Starrett-Lehigh building just down the block.

To drink and drug? Out of the dozens of gay bars in Manhattan, I'd put the Eagle far down the list of drug hotspots. The only thing I ever see being sniffed at the Eagle is armpits. Although in the second floor bathroom one does perceive the slight, but persistent, essence of poppers.
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Chest Hair Abuse

Eagle roof deck, Sunday, 9pm

Two guys are ogling the shirtless humpy new bartender......

Guy 1: I like his perfect chest hair distribution.
Guy 2: That's funny.
Guy 1: What's funny about chest hair?
Guy 2: Wait, I thought you said you'd like to put him in a chair and abuse him?
Guy 1: Chest hair distribution.
Guy 2: Oh. Right.
Guy 1: But your plan sounds good too.
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When Eagles Dance

So I'm hearing that a certain West Chelsea leathertopia has finally gotten their cabaret license. The dance floor is being installed on the ground level right now. I wonder if it will be ready for the big pageant on October 7th? Insiders?

Smart In Spanish

Manhattan, Eagle roof-deck, Sunday 9pm

Guy 1: Man, is Alan's new boyfriend dumb or what? What a box of rocks!

Guy 2: I don't know, maybe it's just his accent.

Guy 3: I agree. He could totally be smart. In Spanish.
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