What are the owners of a legendary Manhattan dive bar — a gay dive bar — to do when their bar has to close due to COVID interruptus?
They start making their own premium vodka — and selling it in Key West, of course.
At least, that’s what Jesse Weinberg did when, after more than 30 years, his family had to close their Boiler Room bar on East 4th Street in the Village for an extended period.
Jesse Weinberg’s parents, Neil and Gina, opened the Boiler Room in 1991, quickly creating a second home for artists, drag queens, outcasts and friends with a comfortable pool table and familiar jukebox.
“I grew up around the bar and in that whole scene, which was an amazing experience,” he told the Keys Weekly on Sept. 28 from New York City. “We had previously developed our own Fourth & Pride beer — an IPA and an ale — but then came the shutdown. So we decided to go back to the drawing board and spent all of 2020 developing our own premium vodka with a proprietary blend of grapes and corn,” rather than the usual rice, corn, rye or wheat, he said.
“We wanted a tasteful product, not just in terms of physical taste, but we wanted to do things right and give back to the LGBTQ+ community and its allies,” Weinberg said. “We just launched in early 2021. Then we came to the Keys in April and May. We needed an area that was still thriving during COVID, and that had a nice diverse community. Key West and the Florida Keys were an obvious choice.”
Despite the plethora of vodka brands on the market, free samples of Fourth & Pride in Key West, happily provided by company representative Sam Jindra, have met with surprised smiles and eyebrows raised in delight at the liquor’s smooth drinkability.
“Fourth & Pride was founded in recognition of the spirit, vitality and camaraderie of the famous East Village Pride Bars and their patrons, which openly welcome beachyspharmacy.com like-minded people of all orientations seeking to come together and imbibe with pride,” states the company’s website, the vodka’s name an homage to the Boiler Room’s Manhattan address at 86 E. 4th St. and the gay pride movement that started less than a mile from it. “Born less than one mile from the birthplace of Pride itself, Fourth & Pride is on a mission to change behaviors, conversations and lives for the better, one sip at a time.”
The company donates 5% of all sales to LGBTQ+ partner organizations that “work tirelessly to advocate, strengthen and advance the community.”
