[quote]One of the sweetest love stories I know began at the Haymarket. It involved a friend who was a stage manager for HAIR at the old Biltmore Theater and a "hustler" boyfriend. I'll write about it someday.
Funny that Iâm finishing up this story 2 years after my first post. Sorry, itâs not about Rounds, but rather the Haymarket.
My friend Galen was a stage manager for a production of HAIR playing in the late 70s on Broadway. At the time, I worked down West 47th Street at another theater, and we would hang out after our respective shows at a quirky Cuban bar called (of all things) the TIJUANA CAT on West 46th Street. Galen was a young hippy with an eclectic personality. At the age of 16, he had been Harvey Milkâs lover. We learned later that he was bi-polar and that this combined with his history of drugs and alcohol abuse would lead to his accidental death in 1980 at the age of 30, when he fell eight stories from an apartment building.
Galen had a bar friend named Jimmy. Jimmy was a sweetheart, but was overweight and shy. He and Galen would often go near closing to the Haymarket, a hustler bar on Eighth Avenue, where Galen would score drugs and encourage Jimmy to hook up. What Jimmy would do was to find some young guy who hadnât hooked up that night and offer him a place to crash. Galen acted as matchmaker, encouraging Jimmy to speak up, screening the candidates, and making sure his friend would be okay. It often worked out for both Jimmy and the hustler.
Well, one night Galen found the proverbially kid-just-off-the-bus who didnât know the ropes and probably would have been eaten alive by the sleazy hustler life. He immediately steered the kid towards Jimmy and did his magic. Jimmy was a great cook and offered the kid a place to stay and a meal, and the kid gratefully accepted.
Jimmy showed up at Tijuana Cat the next night with the kid in tow, and Galen discretely told us the story. We were concerned that Jimmy was smitten and that the kid was just using him, but Galen assured us that he would keep an eye on them both. The relationship blossomed over the weeks, and we saw less and less of Jimmy out at the bar, and heard more and more of Galenâs stories about the love birds embracing the wonderful city of New York and their own special relationship. Galen was so happy for his friend.
Jimmy sent the kid back to school where he got his GED and eventually went to (I believe) culinary school. The two were inseparable and probably the happiest couple I had ever seen at the time. A truly wonderful love story. I credit this all to Galenâs Cupid.
Iâve posted a picture of Galen from the net.
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