Ninth Circle T Shirt

The Ninth Circle was a legendary Greenwich Village gay bar at 139 W. 10th Street in New York City, operating from 1963 until the early 2000s, remembered for its eclectic, raw energy and diverse crowd. Originally a steakhouse, it transformed in the 1970s–80s into a hub of queer nightlife, known for its lively jukebox, pool tables, and a slightly sleazy but welcoming atmosphere. The clientele ranged from leather men and hustlers to twinks, artists, and celebrities like Andy Warhol, making it a crossroads of underground culture. Managed early on by Mickey Ruskin (before he opened Max’s Kansas City), the Ninth Circle became both a social hangout and a hustler bar, embodying the unfiltered, pre‑corporate era of LGBTQ nightlife in Manhattan. Though it closed in the early 2000s, its memory endures as a snapshot of Greenwich Village’s vibrant, gritty queer history.