Afternoons, Evenings and Mysterious Props with JD Samson

The MEN mastermind celebrates a successful year at the Rusty Knot

A year ago, charming West Village dive bar the Rusty Knot invited JD Samson to queer up the weekend. What are Sundays without brunch, and what is brunch without a Bloody Mary or mimosa, and what is a mimosa if you can’t get down with a margarita as the sun nears the horizon? So JD dubbed it Scissor Sundays and began the gayest sunset-over-the-Hudson tea dance in NYC. “At first it was meant to be a spring-and-summer-fun, monthly tea dance,” she says. It has since become so successful that it morphed into a weekly party and warmed the afternoons all through fall and winter.

Now the Rusty Knot is touted on Yelp as a full-fledged queer-friendly respite with one of the best views in town (to distinguish between the clientele and the view of the Hudson would be both confusing and irrelevant). To commemorate this party JD has invited Total Freedom from LA to join in and bring you some fun sounds that are danceable, drinkable and remarkably apt for this afternoon delight.

JD also assures guests that there will also be “a crazy object from which to drink.”  She goes on to entice us that not only will there be drink specials, but there will also be an inventive way to consume them with the help of a mysterious, yet-to-be-named prop. And who doesn’t love toys? She’ll be on the decks from 4 -10pm.

“Queering spaces has always been a big part of my art and activism,” explains JD, and it has prompted other venues to ask her to bring her politics and party to new parts of town. Heading eastbound, take the L train or venture for a sunny stroll across the Williamsburg bridge to Union Pool, an institution for dancers, drinkers and food truck aficionados. Starting May 9th, every Thursday JD will be queering up the dance floor in the back room with PAT (remember that amazing 90’s movie? You can re-watch it when you call in sick Friday morning with some cheese fries and Gatorade). Also on the bill are DJs Nark, Amber Valentine, and W. Jeremy. Feast your eyes on the brilliance of Tyler Jenson, who will serve as the resident video jockey. If you get hungry from dancing so hard, fear not: there is a taco truck permanently parked in the garden.

On top of all this, JD just wrapped a two-week US tour, in addition to laying down MEN’s second record which we can expect in the fall (!!!). We’re happy to have her back in New York City, queering up our spring nights and keeping us dancing all summer long.

 

Scissor Sundays at The Rusty Knot, 425 West St, therustyknot.com (every Sunday)

PAT at Union Pool, 484 Union Ave, union-pool.com (every Thursday starting May 9)


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