It had no timing device and was lighted and placed in a garbage can inside the bar moments before the blast.Īlthough the police said the blast did not appear bias-related, Mayor David Dinkins and several gay rights groups characterized it as an anti-gay attack since Uncle Charlie’s was a well-known gay bar. The bomb was made from several M-80 firecrackers that were stuffed into a six-inch length of pipe. On April 28, 1990, at 12:10 a.m., a homemade pipe bomb exploded, injuring three men who were later treated for minor injuries at nearby St. It attracted a “younger, suit-and-tie crowd” and, over time, gained a reputation as a so-called “S and M” (Stand and Model) bar, due to the fact that numerous patrons stared more at the TV screens than talk with each other. The bar, with its large modern interior and television screens, was a stark contrast to the prior generation of gay bars that were perceived as outdated and dark. Uncle Charlie’s, which opened in 1980 and closed in September 1997, was one of the city’s most popular gay video bars and one of the first to appeal to gay men of the MTV generation.
