The Out NYC - New York's new all singing, all dancing gay hotel.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

There isn't much undeveloped land in Manhattan, but in the bits that are you'll usually find a vanguard of artists and gay adventurers drawn by cheap rents and the edgy vibe of long ignored neighbourhoods. The far west of 42nd Street is a case in point. From Times Square, as I head west along this city artery, in just four blocks I'm in a no man's land of empty lots, car workshops and subsidised housing. It is pretty bleak, but as I look more closely the odd art studio and antique reclamation store catch my eye. Then something altogether out of place comes into view: a postmodernist three-storey extravaganza of glass and horizontal lines.

This is Out NYC hotel. As the name so subtly suggests, it is a gay hotel. As the architecture demands, unlike the neighbourhood, it is not to be ignored. Of course, the fact the name is spelt out in bold, crude typography across the full 130 …