Wanda Acosta at the original location of Sundays Café Tabac, East Village, New York, NY
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Ingested into the TFI Digital Archive through a partnership between The Feminist Institute and Addresses Project, 2022.Credit Line
Courtesy of Riya Lerner.Copyright Status
In CopyrightThis photo is from the Addresses Project which investigates lesbian + queer space and memory in New York City from the early 1900s to the present day through map-making, oral history interviews, ephemera and portraiture.
Wanda Acosta is simply a nightlife icon. She is the creator of parties including Indulgence at Casa La Femme, No Day Like Sunday at Café Tabac, Pleasure at Bar d'O, Kitty Glitter at Liquids, Skin-Tight at Tribal Lounge, Circa at Trompe L'Oeil, YuMMY at Cafe Melville, Soho Groove at Sticky! Puta Scandalosa at Mother, Starlette Sunday at Starlight, AVA at Clubhouse and Showstopper at BLVD. She owned lesbian bars including WonderBar, Starlight and Clubhouse which were open the late 1990s and early 2000s. Her work in nightlife ushered in a massive shift in lesbian culture out from the hidden, mafia-owned dive bars into visible and glamorous spaces. Parties such as Sundays at Café Tabac enabled queer women to see one another and to see themselves with respect and adoration (https://addressesproject.com/memory/wanda-acosta).