East New York’s Queer Nightlife Community Center Is a Place for Uplift, Education, Rest

On a Tuesday afternoon in September, Hinsdale Street is quiet. From the Atlantic Avenue L train station, I walk past a school, a masonry supply, and a parking lot filled with school buses before arriving at a black door sprinkled with white graffiti tags. It opens, and Michael Falco, executive director of the new Queer Nightlife Community Center (QNCC), greets me with a hug.

Housed in a 15,000-square-foot warehouse, QNCC will hold some parties, yes, but don’t mistake it for a club. The goal for the space, Falco tells me, is that it serves as a site for community health care, conversation, career development, and a host of experiences across the queer nightlife spectrum, from performances and lectures to history presentations and screenings. “Everything we're doing in this world is tryin