First opened in 1994, Edelweiss was a Hell’s Kitchen nightclub that served as an integral hangout for gender-non-conforming people of all kinds, as well as their admirers. Throughout the ’90s, the club, whose name may have referred to the Edelweiss flower (which grows in rough terrain and overcomes adversity), endured frequent raids, shutdowns and neighborhood complaints.


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Marc Zinaman is a writer and queer historian based in New York City. "NYC's queer history is everywhere, but rarely is it visibly documented. I grew up not knowing that James Baldwin once lived down my block or that the building I walked by each day once housed the gay bathhouse where Bette Midler got her start," Marc said.