If you were to visit present-day 53rd Street and Third Avenue in New York City, you’d see a Duane Reade and TD Bank amongst towering corporate buildings, and of course, and a Starbucks.
But back in the 1970s, the intersection was part of The Loop, an area “where young male hustlers [hung] out and older men [cruised] to buy sexual favors.”
The fact that such an explicitly LGBTQ+ cruising spot could exist in Manhattan (and so many avenues away from the neighborhood later known as Hell’s Kitchen, at that) is a testament to a bygone and much seedier New York City.
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But it’s this version of the Big Apple that birthed one of punk music’s most influential bands — the Ramones, who paid tribute to the queer spot in their own unique way.
Listen.
The track appeared on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees’ 1976 self-titled debut album.
Although the LP includes some of the group’s most notable tracks — including “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” — it was a commercial flop upon release. Nevertheless, the four-piece’s gritty, thrashing vocals and ferociously sharp guitars were revelatory in the punk scene, alongside their controversial lyrics about violence, sex, dark humor, and drug use.
Accordingly, “53rd and 3rd,” penned by bassist Dee Dee Ramone, did not shy away from what really went down at the infamous intersection.
As revealed by the opening verse, the song tells the story of a former “Green Beret in Vietnam” who’s fallen on hard times. With no time for “your fairy stories” — both a reference to fairytales and a homophobic slur — the narrator now finds himself on “53rd and 3rd, standing on the street” and “trying to turn a trick.”
Despite the taboo subject, the Ramones infused a bizarre level of humor into the lyrics, with self-deprecating quips like, “You’re the one they never pick” and the loaded invitation: “If you think you can, well, come on man.”
Still, the song takes a dark turn in the bridge after the narrator is approached. In a near scream, Dee Dee recounts: “Then I took out my razor blade / Then I did what God forbade / Now the cops are after me / But I proved that I’m no sissy.”
OK, so a punk song about gay prostitution ending with a homophobic murder is hardly a queer anthem, though the true inspiration behind “53rd and 3rd” remains somewhat a mystery.
According to an interview reprinted in Dick Porter’s Ramones: The Complete Twisted History, Dee Dee said the song “speaks for itself” and implied it was based upon his own experiences. “Everything I write is autobiographical and written in a very real way, I can’t even write,” he explained at the time.
However, he later doubled back on its authenticity in an interview for End of the Century: The Story of The Ramones, noting, “These rumors, nobody’s giving me a fair chance [with] what is real and what is fantasy … People try to make me out like I was some rough character: I was just the bass player for the Ramones.”
And while his bandmates at times denied its autobiographical nature, the late musician struggled with drug addiction for most of his life and died at 50-years-old from an overdose.
Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between. We may never know if Dee Dee actually frequented the corner to finance his addiction, but it’s rather unlikely that he actually killed someone. And as Johnny Ramone reportedly told an interviewer, “We were so weird. Singing about some guy coming back from Vietnam and becoming a male prostitute and killing people? This is what we thought was normal.”
The track has remained a fixture in the Ramones’ story, due in part to intrigue around its subject matter and its placement on their first album. In 2003, Metallica even covered “53rd and 3rd” for We’re a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones.
And despite writing a song with homophobic subtext, the Ramones aren’t remembered — or typically believed to have been — anti-LGBTQ+.
In fact, punk culture — forged by a feeling of being outcasted and a desire to live outside of the norms — has always resonated with the LGBTQ+ community. For that reason alone, the group spoke to a generation of queer people who felt shunned by society.
Andrew Luecke noted in Cool: Style, Sound and Subversion, “the whole punk attitude” largely existed beyond the binaries of sexuality. “[It] rubs up against Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground too, and they were very much a part of gay culture … so it skirts all those things,” he wrote.
As for 53rd and 3rd itself, a series of police crackdowns in the 1990s targeted The Loop, leading to a cleansing of solicitations and the loss of queer bars like the Rounds, as well.
abfab
53rd and 3rd is on the east side, north of Murry Hill. No where near Hells Kitchen. As far as The Loop goes, someone must know.
abfab
I neither bought nor sold so hence being out of the loop on The Loop (groan)
It’s long been known as the Loop, the area around East 53d Street and Second Avenue where young male hustlers hang out out and older men cruise to buy sexual favors.
In recent years, the police say, a parallel indoor scene developed at Rounds, a piano bar and restaurant at 303 East 53d St.
Now, a recent police crackdown has dampened the scene, stirring support from some neighbors and criticism from some gay groups.
On Aug. 10 1994 the police barred the tinted-glass front door of Rounds. City officials asked the courts to make the closing permanent, citing a string of 12 arrests in the last year on charges of alcohol sales to minors and prostitution solicitations. The police also cracked down on street activity with arrests there, too.
Kangol2
There were once numerous gay/bi cruising spots in Manhattan, including in Times Square (closer to Hell’s Kitchen)–who can forget the gay cruising there!?), the West Village, the westside Piers, Chelsea (and the trucks), the East Village, Soho, Central Park, the Upper West Side, Harlem, etc. The Loop was one of many; each drew different crowds, and the Ramones immortalized one.
abfab
So many LOOPS! xo
abfab
The boy was in the hallway drinking a glass of tea (a glass of tea)
From the other end of the hallway a rhythm was generating
Another boy was sliding up the hallway (his gold nerves merged perfectly with the hallway)
He merged perfectly with the hallway (A radiant light, an aura around the mirror)
He merged perfectly (merged and looked at Johnny)
The mirror in the hallway (fastened, in the kitchen)
The boy looked at Johnny, Johnny wanted to run
But the movie kept moving as planned (Johnny wanted to run but the movie kept moving as planned)
The boy took Johnny, he pushed him against the locker (the boy took Johnny, he pushed him against the locker)
He drove it in, he drove it home, he drove it deep in Johnny (he drove it in, he drove it home)
The boy disappeared, Johnny fell on his knees
Horses
-Patti Smith 1975
Herman75
Interesting NYC history!
In case anyone might jump to the wrong conclusion, The Ramones were not friends of the gay community.
Johnny Ramone was a big supporter of Reagan. But that was long ago. The original members have all passed. RIP
still_onthemark
A lost world. The famous Third Avenue El had a station at 53rd St.; like most old-time elevated railways it blighted the streets it ran on (including the Bowery). It stopped running in 1955 but as the article indicates, Third Ave. stayed sleazy for decades after that, and in the ’70s still had sleazy bars and sleazy businesses of all sorts, the type mostly confined to Hell’s Kitchen nowadays. I never went into Rounds even when I was hustler age – fortunately I was never quite hustler-type poor and desperate enough. I did however, see the Ramones in concert 9 times!!!
HiKo73
JOHNNY was, not the other members. Joey wrote “The KKK took my baby away” about Johnny. They were a group, not one person.