Nassau County's only gay nightclub, Halo Nightclub, has permanently closed doors, less than two years after it welcoming the public. A sanctuary for the LGBTQ+ community, this establishment faced extreme financial hurdles, partially due to delays in obtaining a full liquor license from the State Liquor Authority (SLA). The license, essential to the club's operations, was not granted until January 2024, eight months after the lease for the premises in Oceanside was signed, Gothamist reported.
According to co-owner Kyle Savage, the delays forced them to continue to pay rent without being able to generate revenue. In a statement obtained by News 12, Savage highlighted the struggle, "We’ve tried to implore the landlord that this is not just a bar, this isn’t just a nightclub, this is a sanctuary. This is a special, safe space and there are so few of those on Long Island." Despite these fervent appeals and the club's cultural significance, financial difficulties continued to plague Halo, eventually leading to its termination.
Halo quickly became a favorite among the local LGBTQ+ community, serving as a haven where people like Matt Sciorsci, a 25-year-old queer Long Island resident, could feel safe and celebrated. With a staff that catered to regulars with personal touches like Sciorsci's preferred apple martini, the club embodied more than the sum of its events. Despite the support from regulars like Sciorsci, who told Gothamist about the safety the venue provided, behind-the-scenes financial woes came to a head with the owners falling behind on payments, leading to an eviction notice in January.
A GoFundMe set up to save Halo Nightclub raised only a small portion of the amount required to avoid closure. Savage even went so far as to deplete his retirement savings in an effort to keep the nightclub afloat. Yet, as debts mounted, the club was no longer able to sustain itself. The final event, held on June 14, was a Pride marathon that served both as a celebration of the community and a farewell. Despite the closure, Savage is not defeated, planning a "luxury nightlife party" at a local hotel, insisting that this turn of events is not a failure, but rather an "awakening of the state of our world and the state of Long Island," as Savage told Gothamist.
