Ronan Farrow, Ladyfag and more back NYC's first-ever queer nightlife community center
The Queer Nightlife Community Center (QNCC) has officially launched in East New York, becoming the first nonprofit venue in the city—and possibly the country—specifically designed for and by queer nightlife workers. Think of it as a community center that keeps the lights on when everyone else clocks out. Part performance space, part support hub, QNCC aims to serve queer, trans and low-wage creatives where they live and labor: after dark.
Housed in a sprawling 28,000-square-foot warehouse complex at 100 Hinsdale Street, QNCC is a hybrid space for the city's most electric subcultures. The two-story site—complete with two adjacent warehouses—sits at the edge of the East New York Industrial Business Zone and is easily accessible via the A/C and L trains. By day, the venue will host public health and workforce development services. By night, it'll transform into a multi-sensory playground of performances, parties and programming.
Backing the effort is a star-studded board of creative directors that reads like a who's who of downtown cool: Ronan Farrow, Julio Torres, Telfar Clemens, Hari Nef, Ladyfag, Juliana Huxtable, Nita Aviance and more. The board of directors includes activists and academics like Madison Moore and Viva Ruiz, ensuring the center's mission remains grounded in equity and access.
At the helm are four nightlife heavyweights: Kyle Dacuyan, formerly of the Poetry Project and PEN America; Michael Falco, a producer with roots in both journalism and queer advocacy; artist and fabricator Breakfast Garbowski; and nightlife legend Seva Granik, known for SHADE, UNTER and ZERO CHILL.
More than just a venue, QNCC is a long-needed institution for a workforce that's historically been underpaid, underserved, and overexposed. As its founders put it, QNCC exists to 'empower queer, trans, and low-income communities through access, support and celebration.'
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Time Out
09-06-2025
- Time Out
Ronan Farrow, Ladyfag and more back NYC's first-ever queer nightlife community center
New York's nightlife scene just got a bold new anchor. The Queer Nightlife Community Center (QNCC) has officially launched in East New York, becoming the first nonprofit venue in the city—and possibly the country—specifically designed for and by queer nightlife workers. Think of it as a community center that keeps the lights on when everyone else clocks out. Part performance space, part support hub, QNCC aims to serve queer, trans and low-wage creatives where they live and labor: after dark. Housed in a sprawling 28,000-square-foot warehouse complex at 100 Hinsdale Street, QNCC is a hybrid space for the city's most electric subcultures. The two-story site—complete with two adjacent warehouses—sits at the edge of the East New York Industrial Business Zone and is easily accessible via the A/C and L trains. By day, the venue will host public health and workforce development services. By night, it'll transform into a multi-sensory playground of performances, parties and programming. Backing the effort is a star-studded board of creative directors that reads like a who's who of downtown cool: Ronan Farrow, Julio Torres, Telfar Clemens, Hari Nef, Ladyfag, Juliana Huxtable, Nita Aviance and more. The board of directors includes activists and academics like Madison Moore and Viva Ruiz, ensuring the center's mission remains grounded in equity and access. At the helm are four nightlife heavyweights: Kyle Dacuyan, formerly of the Poetry Project and PEN America; Michael Falco, a producer with roots in both journalism and queer advocacy; artist and fabricator Breakfast Garbowski; and nightlife legend Seva Granik, known for SHADE, UNTER and ZERO CHILL. More than just a venue, QNCC is a long-needed institution for a workforce that's historically been underpaid, underserved, and overexposed. As its founders put it, QNCC exists to 'empower queer, trans, and low-income communities through access, support and celebration.'
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Mia Farrow supported by 'very proud' son Ronan as she lands first Tony Awards nod at 80
First-time nominee Mia Farrow brought along her lucky charm - son Ronan Farrow - to the 78th Annual Tony Awards, which were held at Radio City Music Hall in Midtown Manhattan on Sunday. The 80-year-old actress beamed while glammed up in a cream-colored, three-piece white pantsuit with matching platform boots and a golden clutch purse. The 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner contrasted his famous mother by donning an all-black silk suit with buckled dress shoes. Mia (born Maria) welcomed Ronan (born Satchel) during her 11-year relationship with estranged ex-partner Woody Allen, but he's long been rumored to be the biological son of Frank Sinatra. Joining the Farrow mother-son duo was his partner Hamer Morgenstern dressed in a classic tuxedo. 'Hey, I'm here at the Tony Awards with my mom, Mia Farrow, who is nominated. Very proud of her!' The New Yorker investigative journalist gushed via Instagram while crossing his fingers. Indeed, the Beverly Hills-born nepo baby scored her first-ever Tony nomination for best performance by a leading actress in a play for her role as Iowa homeowner Sharon in The Roommate, which marked her fourth Broadway play. Ironically, Mia's Roommate castmate Patti LuPone from Jen Silverman's two-person play was snubbed for a nomination following the scandal over her saying Broadway rival Audra McDonald was 'not a friend.' But Farrow did reveal in Interview last week that her character does most of the heavy lifting: 'Mostly it was me, because if you read the script, I initiate just about every conversation.' In the end, the Rosemary's Baby alum lost the Tony Award to Succession alum Sarah Snook, who made her Broadway debut as the titular role in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Ronan helped fuel the #MeToo movement by creating Catch and Kill (book, podcast, and HBO series) on disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Farrow published similar sexual harassment/assault take-downs on Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Supreme Court associate justice Brett Kavanaugh, Matt Lauer, Les Moonves, and more. It all likely stemmed from the Surveilled star's real-life estrangement from his 89-year-old famous father after Mia accused the disgraced filmmaker of molesting their adopted daughter Dylan at age seven in 1992. But Farrow did reveal in Interview last week that her character does most of the heavy lifting: 'Mostly it was me, because if you read the script, I initiate just about every conversation' In the end, the Rosemary's Baby alum lost the Tony Award to Succession alum Sarah Snook, who made her Broadway debut as the titular role in The Picture of Dorian Gray One week later, Allen - who was never charged or prosecuted - sued Mia for full custody of Ronan and her adopted children Dylan and Moses. In his 33-page decision in 1993, Justice Elliott Wilk rejected Woody's (born Allan Konigsberg) bid for custody of all three children and called his behavior toward Dylan 'grossly inappropriate' while also rejecting the sexual abuse allegations. And while 39-year-old Dylan still stands by the allegations, her 47-year-old brother Moses publicly denied she was ever abused and alleged Farrow had abused him in a 2018 WordPress post. In 1997, the four-time Oscar winner married the Golden Globe winner's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn - with whom he had a secret affair in 1992 - and they later adopted 25-year-old daughter Bechet Allen and 24-year-old daughter Manzie Tio Allen. Tony Awards 2025 nominees Best Musical Buena Vista Social Club Dead Outlaw Death Becomes Her Maybe Happy Ending Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical Best Revival of a Play Eureka Day — Author: Jonathan Spector Romeo + Juliet Thornton Wilder's Our Town Yellow Face — Author: David Henry Hwang Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play George Clooney — Good Night, And Good Luck Cole Escola — Oh, Mary! 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The Musical Nicole Scherzinger — Sunset Blvd. Jennifer Simard — Death Becomes Her Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Tala Ashe — English Jessica Hecht — Eureka Day Marjan Neshat — English Fina Strazza — John Proctor Is The Villain Kara Young — Purpose Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical Natalie Venetia Belcon — Buena Vista Social Club Julia Knitel — Dead Outlaw Gracie Lawrence — Just In Time Justina Machado — Real Women Have Curves: The Musical Joy Woods — Gypsy Best Direction of a Musical Saheem Ali — Buena Vista Social Club Michael Arden — Maybe Happy Ending David Cromer — Dead Outlaw Christopher Gattelli — Death Becomes Her Jamie Lloyd — Sunset Blvd. Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre Dead Outlaw — Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna Death Becomes Her — Music & Lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey Maybe Happy Ending —Music: Will Aronson; Lyrics: Will Aronson and Hue Park Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical — Music & Lyrics: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts Real Women Have Curves: The Musical — Music & Lyrics: Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez Best Orchestrations Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber — Just in Time Will Aronson — Maybe Happy Ending Bruce Coughlin — Floyd Collins Marco Paguia — Buena Vista Social Club David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber — Sunset Blvd. Best Scenic Design of a Musical Rachel Hauck — Swept Away Dane Laffrey and George Reeve — Maybe Happy Ending Arnulfo Maldonado — Buena Vista Social Club Derek McLane — Death Becomes Her Derek McLane — Just In Time Best Costume Design of a Musical Dede Ayite — Buena Vista Social Club Gregg Barnes — BOOP! 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The Guardian
12-05-2025
- The Guardian
Sean Penn says he'd work with Woody Allen again ‘in a heartbeat'
Sean Penn has reiterated his defence of Woody Allen, saying he would 'work with him in a heartbeat'. Penn was speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast, and told Theroux that while he felt he didn't know Allen well enough to know for certain that '100% this didn't happen', he said: 'The stories are mostly told by people that I wouldn't trust with a dime. It just seems so heavily weighted in that way.' Allen is accused of sexual abuse by the director's adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow; Allen has always denied the allegations and two official investigations by social services departments in Connecticut and New York state were closed after finding no evidence against him. Allen's son, investigative journalist Ronan Farrow, has been outspoken in support of Dylan, while adopted son Moses Farrow has been equally outspoken in defence of Allen. Penn worked with Allen on the 1999 film Sweet and Lowdown, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. Penn said: 'I am not aware of any clinical psychologist or psychiatrist or anyone I've ever heard talk or spoken to around the subject of paedophilia that, in 80 years of life, there's accusations of it happening only once. I'm not aware of that. And when people try to associate what were his, let's say, much younger girlfriends, right or wrong … is to me a different conversation.' He added: 'I see he's not proven guilty, so I take him as innocent, and I would work with him in a heartbeat.' In the same interview Penn cast new light on his meeting with former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in 2018 at the height of the Syrian civil war. Penn was working on a now-abandoned documentary about the Arab Spring uprisings. Penn told Theroux he wanted permission to speak to Isis prisoners and speak to Syrians 'on the street … without a minder'. According to Penn, al-Assad's response was, 'Absolutely, we have nothing to hide', and then invited him to lunch. Penn said: 'I got into his car and … we drove about 20 minutes through Damascus. To this day, I have to believe it was The Truman Show. That every block all the way to his house was staged. People driving up next to him and saying, 'hello, Mr President'. 'Hey, how are you?' This kind of thing. Virtually no visible security.' 'We went to the house. Again, no sign of security of any kind. He's there with his wife and his children. His children are as western as any California kid, and they're listening to Kanye and dancing around.' However, Penn said as negotiations progressed, access was denied and he decided to drop the film. Penn also had harsh comments on both Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Trump, he said, might be 'extremely smart for his time and what it valued', adding: 'But what he values is so base. I won't equate that with intelligence. It's truly void of soul. And really, it actively engages in cruelty.' Penn said that Musk, who until recently was heading a so-called 'department of government efficiency' for Trump's administration resulting in the shutdown of swathes of public services, appeared only to 'value destruction of things and people', adding. 'I can't associate that with any intelligence that's going to do humankind any good.' Saying he had met Musk 'on several occasions', Penn suggested that Musk's insecurities were down to being a 'prematurely balding teenager, white in apartheid South Africa, who has no social skills' and that in his view Musk was a combination of 'a lot of destructive energy and a lot of stuff that may end up being very productive for other generations'. Penn also reflected on his tempestuous relationship with Madonna, to whom he was married between 1985 and 1989, and in the course of which he had a number of run-ins with paparazzi. Responding to Theroux's question about Madonna's statement in her 1991 documentary In Bed with Madonna that Penn was 'the love of her life', Penn said: 'She's very sweet. Look, she's been a good friend for a lot of years. It didn't take us long to realise that we had mistaken a good first date for a wedding partner. It didn't take us long to recover after we got divorced, maybe a year, in a friendship. I have a lot of fond memories of it – it's not all jail. But there was a lot of alcohol and she'd be fairly accusing me of that.' Penn also said that he may have helped accelerate the rise of celebrity culture by his occasionally violent responses to harassment by the media. '[It] added to the idea you can go provoke people like this idiot. I'm probably partially responsible for this explosion that led to all this. Extreme creepy fascination with famous people and things like that. My life was much simpler before [meeting Madonna]. But she became a lightning rod of attention. I was there.'
