I moved to NYC with 2 gay friends from high school in August of 1984 from Florida. I still live here. We stayed in the Jane West Hotel for about 2 weeks in September and lived in one of the corner tower rooms just below the top floor. I remember the advertisement in the Village Voice saying it was "cheap and clean" It was cheap but not so clean. LOL I remember having to go 2 levels down to take a shower the floor that had bathrooms. Not every floor had baths. The guy behind the desk had to leave his post at the desk to operate the elevator. This wasn't a full staff hotel. Most guests there were transgender prostitutes working the west side piers at night. I must say I LOVED the experience there and cherish that memory just falling off the hay wagon from Florida and moving to the Big Apple. Ate breakfast most every day at La Bonboniere diner.
wow, The tower room is now a bar and rooftop bar! and it looks so beautiful from photos online… I can see how different it looks now compared to when Rhonda and Nelson were standing on the roof. Glad it is well taken care of now.
I love these videos. It bring back so many memories for this 80's kid. Just hanging with friends looking for something to do. Before all the electronics we have today. I'm not saying it was a better time, but just a different time. I miss being a teenager back the. Peace in you valley to everyone.
In the future, nobody will ever say ... "Hey, remember all that fun we had with our heads facing down whilst pressing buttons on a gadget just to watch our boring, digitized lives, play out through a small screen?
I’m so glad you guys had the smarts as well ability to document those years, and to save it till now! Thank you so very much. It’s so cool to see the world when I think it was its most real and genuine......great, twisted, scary, but inspirational years.
Flash forward a decade - me and 2 friends (not the same 2 i moved here with) installed a gay sex club in the basement level of this same hotel - called the "Comeback" We designed it for cruising and sex within the club. The owners were total Italian mobsters who owned straight tittie bars downtown. We got the furnishings and props from the newly closed "Mars" nightclub - which the building was eventually raised. I took a tour with one of the mobsters to an indoor swimming pool in the basement - no water n the pool but clearly a sign of a prominent hotel in it's day. The survivors of the Titanic were brought there to stay after being rescued by the Carpathia. The building has a rich history. I remember the cigarette machine in the lobby and bought cigs from it! The good ole days when you could smoke anywhere and it was encouraged.
Ahhh Mars 1989-90 when Moby spun while you checked your coat! Shit he might have been handing out lil red tickets for the coats along with the needle drops. Good times and thanks for sharing What an amazing rabbit hole 5ninth is!!!
I moved to NYC with 2 gay friends from high school in August of 1984 from Florida. I still live here. We stayed in the Jane West Hotel for about 2 weeks in September and lived in one of the corner tower rooms just below the top floor. I remember the advertisement in the Village Voice saying it was "cheap and clean" It was cheap but not so clean. LOL I remember having to go 2 levels down to take a shower the floor that had bathrooms. Not every floor had baths. The guy behind the desk had to leave his post at the desk to operate the elevator. This wasn't a full staff hotel. Most guests there were transgender prostitutes working the west side piers at night. I must say I LOVED the experience there and cherish that memory just falling off the hay wagon from Florida and moving to the Big Apple. Ate breakfast most every day at La Bonboniere diner.
foot suk now it's a high class hotel now
What a time, and one that was fraught with peril. No doubt you lost many loved ones. Hopefully you are still with us.
Watching all these old home videos of Mama Ru really makes you fully appreciate him and where he came from :)
Him? "HIM"?
@@lllllelamp2308 Ru is a him
*Ll Ll Le Lamp* RuPaul is gay, not trans.
@@lllllelamp2308 Ru says him/her it doesn't matter. I just never call use him useless that's the entire presented. Which isn't very often.
Him. He's not a woman nor a mother. Womanhood and motherhood is not a costume.
OMG!! Ru was such a gorgeous guy. That smile is everything!!!
Kaylynn Jones is
I Rembrandt him from Northside years. Always a nice guy!
He still is lol
wow, The tower room is now a bar and rooftop bar! and it looks so beautiful from photos online…
I can see how different it looks now compared to when Rhonda and Nelson were standing on the roof.
Glad it is well taken care of now.
I grew up in the 1980's I was born in 1971 and the 80's were the best years of my life
I stumbled on this channel watching a bunch of old way videos, and its a national treasure
Blackout is my favorite he's such a good dog!
I love these videos. It bring back so many memories for this 80's kid. Just hanging with friends looking for something to do. Before all the electronics we have today. I'm not saying it was a better time, but just a different time. I miss being a teenager back the. Peace in you valley to everyone.
I’m gonna say it because it is the truth. It was a better time.
In the future, nobody will ever say ... "Hey, remember all that fun we had with our heads facing down whilst pressing buttons on a gadget just to watch our boring, digitized lives, play out through a small screen?
I want to be Rhonda hanging out with Nelson, but what an adorable friendship!
Love Rhonda's outfit! +Purple rain was ON :)
There is something about these fabulous looking people living in this rundown city that really appeals to me.
RIP Blackout and "eww, it stinks in here."
Ru Paul Charles so poised and grounded, knew exactly what he wanted and he got it...and now paving the way to many more artists.. ICON
I’m so glad you guys had the smarts as well ability to document those years, and to save it till now! Thank you so very much. It’s so cool to see the world when I think it was its most real and genuine......great, twisted, scary, but inspirational years.
Dam, its 2020 and I dress just like Rhonda. I saved a lot of my mom's clothes from the 70s and 80s, she was right style always comes back around!
Especially that shirt
I wish I had my moms clothes too. She dressed the same.
New York when it was really New York.
This is fascinating... culture...punk rock... amazing...a 💎 gem ...
back in the magic of new york city
I adore Nelson for making all of these videos of NYC back in the day....this was my time!
RuPaul Is as good looking as a man as he is a woman.
Totally!
The roof is now a bar including the tower room.
Blasting Purple Rain by the mighty Prince. 3:52 💜
Awe..... the 80s were a ball. It was such an amazing time to be finding yourself!!!!
Ah..New York when one could afford to live almost anywhere you wanted. Those days are long gone.
HA!!! I know this hotel well. I've got my STORIES about this place, let me tell you. LOL
Spill the tea
Sister Indica ohh I’m sure you do!!
Ru has a natural beauty. Even without makeup 💄 ru is stunning
4:00 purple rain
..
I wonder how much it would cost to live their now, another 20 years and Manhattan will be nothing but millionaires and their servants.
It's basically a hostel. Not expensive today.
Well it was 1984 and that was the most popular movie, album, and song that year.
Imagine have this memorabilia of your life, 1984 i was 16
Flash forward a decade - me and 2 friends (not the same 2 i moved here with) installed a gay sex club in the basement level of this same hotel - called the "Comeback" We designed it for cruising and sex within the club. The owners were total Italian mobsters who owned straight tittie bars downtown. We got the furnishings and props from the newly closed "Mars" nightclub - which the building was eventually raised. I took a tour with one of the mobsters to an indoor swimming pool in the basement - no water n the pool but clearly a sign of a prominent hotel in it's day. The survivors of the Titanic were brought there to stay after being rescued by the Carpathia. The building has a rich history. I remember the cigarette machine in the lobby and bought cigs from it! The good ole days when you could smoke anywhere and it was encouraged.
rlly cool thx
for sharing that ;)
I love hearing about the titanic
you are an icon of society setting up a gay sex club in the middle of an epidemic
@@lctony401 Bud - this was the early 1990's - nearly 30 years ago.. Nice try to troll me but you failed epically.
Ahhh Mars 1989-90 when Moby spun while you checked your coat!
Shit he might have been handing out lil red tickets for the coats along with the needle drops.
Good times and thanks for sharing
What an amazing rabbit hole 5ninth is!!!
Love rondas style
Amazing footage of the west side highway
Wow now "the tower room" is a rooftop bar!
15 years before I was born! Crazy !
I will be born in exactly 10 years and 6 days from this point in time "woah geeeez" - Mr.Garrison voice
Beautiful RuPaul
I wish I was in this friend group. And tbh if it was a t.v show, it's real 'friends' and I adore these
I still walk around with a canvas tote shopping bag for all my weed & wallet and stuff LOL. If I get busted, peeps will just think I'm shopping. 😂😅
Rhonda is so sweet, ever Rhonda I ever met was kind🥰
amazing camera...
I stayed at that hotel last year.
Who is Rhonda? She seems likecsuch a beautiful soul
Does anyone else think that Nelson’s backyard space looks a lot larger than it did in other video? I’m curious if it was a initially shared space.
Yes it was!
RuPaul is just so damn cute!!
Rhonda is very pretty no doubt.
What happened to her?
Bye Felicia.
New York must have been amazing and terrifying back then
Imagine if Nelson started lion diet would he still be alive?
whatever happened to felecia? plain gorgeous
🛎️ bellhop?!? This is a different world...
New York City in 1980 s
wow.. i was only 4 months old when this was recorded.
Who's the blonde she's hot
None of that looks appealing, I feel bad for how NY people have to live...crammed,on top of each other 🙁
When heading to the roof that was prince purple rain playing from another apartment 😊