The largest hurricane to ever hit the mid-Atlantic brought Philadelphia, and the LGBT community, to a screeching halt this week.
While the city was spared much of the flooding and destruction that was seen at places like the Jersey Shore and in New York City, Hurricane Sandy forced the shuttering of city government, schools and a sea of private businesses and nonprofits — including many that cater to the LGBT community — early in the week.
Among the casualties of the storm was the groundbreaking event for the proposed LGBT-friendly senior residences, which was postponed until next month.
A number of service organizations also closed their doors.
William Way LGBT Community Center announced Sunday, as the storm inched closer to the coast, that it would be closed both Monday and Tuesday.
“It’s very rare that we close,” said center executive director Chris Bartlett. “Our goal is to be open 365 days a year, especially when people need us most. But we really had to take into consideration the safety of community members coming and going and the safety of our staff. So it had to be a pretty dangerous storm.”
Bartlett added that the center suffered no water or wind damage from the storm.
Also closed those two days was Philadelphia FIGHT, Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative, AIDS Services in Asian Communities, The Attic Youth Center, The Colours Organization, Action AIDS and all three locations of Mazzoni Center.
LGBT History Month came to a resounding close as the rainbow flag that had been flying outside City Hall all month was taken down by the storm.
The Gayborhood saw a mixed bag in terms of closures: Woody’s, Westbury and Tavern on Camac all shut their doors at some point Monday, while other venues, such as Knock, U Bar, Voyeur, The Bike Stop and Venture Inn, remained open throughout the hurricane.
Cancelled events included Tuesday’s Delaware Valley Legacy Fund’s Wonder Women cocktail hour and the LGBT night at Eastern State Penitentiary.
Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutritional Alliance, which closed Monday, postponed its Pie Day from Nov. 1 to 11:30 a.m. Nov. 8 at MANNA, 2323 Ranstead St., so the agency could concentrate on getting meals out to clients impacted by the storm.
The senior-site groundbreaking ceremony had been planned for noon Oct. 29, in the middle of the storm, but organizers have rescheduled it to 11 a.m. Nov. 9. The ceremony, to be held at 249-257 S. 13th St., is open to the public.
Crews began work on the foundation this week, and Mark Segal, PGN publisher and head of the Dr. Magnus Hirschfield Fund, said the storm did not impact that process, other than delaying it.