hustlers. On the other hand, The 14th Street Cafe currently houses what's left of the leather jacket (and occasionally motorcycle) set which used to hang out in the old Big Dollar which is sorely missed by many, along with The Lodge which also catered to the same set. Most of the leather jacket set stay home these days.

"Anyway, what happens to old bars once they have been closed? Well, as noted, The Old Colony loca tion is now occupied by a pizzeria; The Big Dollar site by a gaudy New York City type of 'delicatessen' restaurant; The Lodge's quarters by an antique dealer (although a fortune teller held forth there for awhile)."

Our intelligence goes on to say that "42nd Street and its theatres are quite 'hot' now; so are the theatres on East 86th Street and the RKO 58th Street. One sees fewer hustlers around these places now. The hustlers in the 'know' now hang out on 3rd Avenue . . . where the cruising is fine except late at night, after closing, when the cops cruise up the Avenue shining spotlights and holler 'keep walking. Occasionally, too, you can be sure, the 'number' in the doorway is a plainclothesman. (I saw one I recognized.) But for the most part, 3rd Avenue is safer than 42nd Street and about as safe as any street can be. The 'meatrack' in the Village . . . has been cleaned up, but the cops have been having their hands full with the 'beats' along with the Sunday afternoon 'folksinging' which became quite a cause celebre recently when Park Commissioner Newbold Morris -he replaced 'Mother' Robt. Moses, the doughty old gent in his seventies who is now head of the upcoming World's Fair and who still heads the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and several other State and Municipal organizations-

banned the folksinging as being a general nuisance because the singers were trampling the grass (what little there is) and were outsiders not Village residents, meaning that some were mixed white and negro couples, and were creating a general nuisance. Anyway, the Mayor finally put Newbold down after a few near-riots (one cop got kicked, and a few people were roughed up by the police) so now the folksingers are back with singing and music, in a special area roped off for them in the Square. There was quite a bit of protest favoring the folksingers, even the NY Times found the story fit to print and photograph all over the front page; a Village minister took up the singers' cause; where was he when they ran the gay ones away?

"I was in Philadelphia last weekend. It is now much freer there, and the bars seem quite busy. There are several new ones going now in addition to the older established places. About a year ago one or two bars were raided and about 60 persons were rounded up and spent the night in jail, but that seems to have blown over now. In fact, Philadelphia appears to be busier and freer than New York City right now and certainly more relaxed."

THE GAYEST SPOT

Cherry Grove, Fire Island, is still the gayest summer spot in captivity. However, as usual, a raid on the famous "meat rack" was staged over the July 4th weekend. The whole populace was forewarned of the presence of 30 plainclothesmen

many of them deputized truck drivers. Those people who went to the dunes anyway must have been mental masochists. Be that as it may, charges of police brutality were voiced last week at the town