Hello everyone, my name is Phillip and I am in the early stages of setting up production to make a documentary on Club Edelweiss that was located in the Hells Kitchen section of New York on 11th avenue and 44th Street (next to the Market Diner) It was a club in the 90's that attracted mostly Transgender and Transvestite club goers (and allegedly turned into a drug and prostitution den) It closed and reopened several times, ultimately closing its doors forever after NYPD Detective Gerard McMahon went undercover as "Cindy" and saw Club Edelweiss as it truly was.

I am looking to do on camera interviews and/or hear stories of those who went to the club and would like to share their experiences. I have had a few responses to a local Craigslist ad I posted and things are starting to move forward. Please feel free to message me or respond to the posting with any questions you may have. Thank you very much for your help, I look forward to hearing from you!

Best,
Phillip

My local Craigslist ad:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/cwg/4921532900.html

If you are not familiar with the story, here are 2 articles from years back:
http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/1084/

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/26/nyregion/neighborhood-report-clinton-club-it-seems-isn-t-dead-yet.html

This post was edited by Phillip M. at March 10, 2015 12:40 AM GMT

I went there twice, late 80's, early 90's.  It was not really my scene, but I didn't feel uncomfortable there.  I was just out of place.  It was a hookup joint for males who wanted a trans to service them.  It was a little too, how do I say, more than what I was looking for.  I was a cd, but not looking for males.  In one way, it is kind of good they closed because there was a lot of prostitution.  On the other hand, people like me who wanted a place to go and express ourselves in a feminine manner, it was a comfortable place, but we weren't always understood.

 

I thing that if they had recognized that there were a lot of us who were just in the spectrum of trans, instead of playing to the prostitution, there would still be a club Edelweiss today.

Thank you for your reply Wanda! It is a shame the way Edelweiss ended being a Tranny chaser meat market. I too had friends that would frequent Edelweiss and I know it was difficult for them to find another place to express themselves. It is an interesting story that I am looking forward to telling. Are there any stories that you would like to share for the film Wanda? Please feel free to reach out to me and I can give you my contact info. Thank you so much!!

Thank you for everyone that has reached out to me, I truly appreciate your support and I look forward to speaking with you all soon. We will begin shooting interviews next month (April 2015). If there is anyone else interested in telling their stories about Edelweiss I would love to hear them! We will of course respect your privacy (we will shoot interviews on camera, some in plain sight if you are comfortable doing so and some shadowed out for privacy - lastly we are also conducting audio only interviews to show over footage and photos) If interested please message me and I will give you my contact information. Thank you all again for helping me tell the story of Club Edelweiss!!