Oppressed, shunned, and discriminated against by broader culture and society LGBTG+ individuals were eager for any spot where they could safely come together and express themselves freely. At the same time, the gay community in the city grew as well, but members had very few places to gather out in public.
In the second half of the 20 th century, New York City saw a boom in organized crime, with New Jersey and New York at the epicenter of mob rule in the United States.
It was an unlikely partnership, but between New York City’s LGBTQ+ community in the 1960s being forced to live on the outskirts of society, and the Mafia’s disregard for the law the two made a profitable match.
