250) Jahlisa A. Ross
The newly crowned Miss Project Achieve / Columbia Research Unit (PACRU), this fashion forward dance diva is as inspirational an HIV awareness advocate as she is a drag queen.
249) Svetlana Stoli
GLAM-nominated door queen of the Voss Events brunch at the Highline Ballroom, Svetlana is astutely political, pleasantly goofy, incredibly Russian, and needs to perform more!
248) The Haus of Sterling
Candy, Sookie & Tiffany Jones Sterling are a fashionable threesome that emerged during “The Brooklyn Renaissance of 2017.” Catch them regularly – individually or together – at the Rosemont and The Deep End.
247)
Travelling the country with his standup shows like 2 Queers & a Bitch, The Book of Ike and 50 Shades of Gay, comic Ike Avelli also kept his NYC audiences in stitches with several NYC appearances.
246) Godiva Romance
This fun dance queen is still a welcome presence in the weekly drag competition circuit, but now you can also catch her every Tuesday hosting at Boots & Saddle.
245) Julia Van Cartier
In addition to winning an all-stars edition of the singing “New York’s Next Top Drag Queen” competition at Stonewall this year, Julia popped up a few times with some fun cabarets at the Duplex and Fire Island alongside
&
.
244)
This cute-as-a-button promoter and host is a new star to the scene. See him working the floors of the biggest circuit parties and scene queen soirees in NYC, and keep a lookout for new events he’s producing himself.
243) Occupy The Disco
The hit club trio Tad Haes, DJ RuBot, and Josh Appelbaum strive to bring serious dance music to the masses. Besides their residency at LeBain, the group played a benefit for Callen-Lorde at the Bronx Zoo in 2017.
242) DJ Robi D Light
A resident at Henrietta Hudson, DJ Robi is a favorite fixture of girl parties everywhere. But she’s also a beatmaster for nightlife at large, like the party STRUT at Acme.
241) Anthony Paparelli
Always finding a way to incorporate edgy details into his looks as a host and gogo boy, Anthony is also making his presence known as an occasional bartender and choreographer to the city’s biggest drag stars.
240) Hedda Lettuce
While keeping her distance from the city’s nightlife bubble most of the year, this bona fide drag legend is a huge draw for Fire Islanders during the summer. This year, she returned to the Island Breeze before jumping ship to finish the season at Cherry’s on the Bay. Off-season, catch Hedda hosting seasonal cabaret shows and a weekly interactive screening of classic campy films at the Village East Cinema.
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A newcomer emerging from the Ultimate Drag Pageant, this queen has already shown promising skills as a performer and host while guest appearing in various other queens’ shows. In 2017 she was already featured in a drag cabaret showcase at the Metropolitan Room and a benefit for Gays Against Guns at Boots & Saddle, and even hosted a Will & Grace viewing party at The West End.
238) Flippe Kikee
This drag pixie has found success as Rockbar’s weekly karaoke hostess, with an additional monthly show there. She also made her Stonewall Invasion headlining debut in 2017, and screens movies monthly at Branded Saloon.
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While keeping cabaret audiences rolling in the aisles with her hilarious “Dozen Divas” impersonation shows, this lady of the night mixed it up with drag queens and queer nightlifers a few times this year with projects like “Night of 1000 Lizas” at New World Stages and “Enough Is Enough: A Benefit for Gays Against Guns” at Boots & Saddle.
236) Shawn Paul Mazur & Matthew Gagnon
Known for their seasonal cute-boys-dancing day parties like FLY Sundays at the Monarch and Love Age Sundays at the Lovage Hotel, this event producing pair also helms “Super Size Queen Fridays” weekly at Hardware.
235) JD Samson
One third of the electroclash outfit Le Tigre, Samson DJs the edgiest parties – particularly lesbian events – in NYC and beyond. She’s the resident beatmaster of the monthly all-genders-welcome PAT Party at Union Pool, and frequently drops beats with DJ Amber Valentine at Brooklyn’s The Woods.
234) Tym Moss
The host of the “Artists Exposed” radio show had a hit cabaret at Don’t Tell Mama this year, appeared in basically every Pride parade and dozens of benefit shows, filmed a starring role in an indie movie… and brings the motherload of positivity and fun wherever he shows up.
233)
This new queen of the Rosemont’s “OOPS Wednesdays” brigade serves high fashion fish with a side of delicious drama.
232) Dina Delicious
Singer, performer and hard-partying It Girl Dina Marie Delicious, a legend in this city, is mostly working the T-Girl circuit these days when she’s not recording music. In 2017, we also saw her perform sets at Club Cumming and Lucky Chengs. Plus, she was interviewed in NY1′s parade coverage booth during Pride!
231) Candy Samples & Witti Repartee
There was no hibernation in 2017 for these ginger bear queens. Between charities, the AIDS Walk, judging leather contests and drag pageants, hosting cabarets, recording music and activism on and off the keyboard, Candy and Witti are queer role models for us all.
230)
If Holly Box-Springs has costume reveals down, this drag daughter of Terra Hyman might be on her way to becoming the city’s Wig Reveal Queen. Catch her now hosting weekly at Icon in Astoria, and guesting all over the city.
229) Zarria Van Wales Powell
The drag offspring of legends
and Zola Powell, Zarria’s got the comedy and vocal chops for a solid career. Having done nearly every guest spot, weekly competition and pageant the city has to offer a young queen, it’s just a matter of time before we see her hosting her own weekly gigs.
228) GREKO
Young pop / rock recording artist Mike Greco teaches the nightlife children that music doesn’t always come from a backing track. His live sets with a full band at Le Poisson Rouge and Berlin have given him a local rockstar success rarely seen today. When not playing or recording, or managing talent via his company Damn the Light, GREKO’s been known to DJ at Sister Midnight and the Electric Room.
227) Kendra H Kinx
She became Fire Island’s hottest new resident talent in 2016, and was equally in demand this year – if not more so. Inexplicably for a Tuesday night, Kendra’s Ice Palace show was the talk of the town. This warm weather queen then made a handful of NYC appearances before flying south for the winter.
226)
With exciting club looks and onstage hilarity, this seasoned drag queen constantly proves she’s an amazing host: whether it’s the Miss Project Achieve / Columbia Research Unit Pageant, the main stage of Jersey City Pride, or any of the dozens of venues in NY and NJ she performed in this year. Plus, she was bravely the only queen to wear a mask during that buzzworthy Katy Perry SNL performance!
225)
From the orchards of upstate New York to the drag halls of NYC, this fresh-faced Ultimate Drag Pageant winner fell far from the tree in 2017… much to our delight. Catch her monthly at the West End.
224) Linda Simpson
The hilariously quirky, old school NYC legend is calling bingo for the masses at Le Poisson Rouge Fridays and Saturdays. This year she was a featured queen in Gregory Kramer’s photography book DRAGS, and she co-emceed its release party at the Highline Ballroom.
223) DJ Jon Ali
The Hardware weekly DJ roster got a cute new edition in 2017.
222)
This queen’s been busy since 2016′s “So You Think You Can Drag,” co-hosting a weekly brunch at L&W Oyster Co. with GIlda Wabbit, headlining a Halloween revue at the West End, and directing Gloria Swansong’s Judy Garland impersonation shows.
221) Severely Mame
With a huge cult following, this retro glamour ghoul can do whatever the hell she wants… including a dramatic take on “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” for Sasha Velour’s “NIGHTGOWNS,” a weekly bingo night at Brooklyn’s hip venue Pizza Party, and cameos in music videos from Sharon Needles and Debbie Harry.
220) Rise Bar
Chic to some and bougy to others, John Blair’s new HK bar can finally stay open as late as the other bars in the hood. Three of the city’s best queens – Brenda Dharling, Bootsie LeFaris & Marti Gould Cummings – now serve a killer Wednesday night show there, and the Rising Star singing competition gets high marks. Oh, and needless to say, the bartenders are easy on the eyes.
219) Petra Fried
Rockbar’s senior queen was absent for much of 2017, but her presence remained potent enough for GLAM voters to nominate her Best Vocalist.
218) Ally Ganza
The new karaoke hostess at Vodka Soda / Bottoms Up must be doing something right: She has GLAM nominations for Breakthrough Artist and Best Bartender, plus a bingo gig at Mr. Biggs.
217) DJ Michael Formika Jones
The 1990′s legendary queen Mistress Formika is now a full-time DJ, bringing an old-school sensibility to dancefloors and other queens’ shows in venues as diverse as Le Poisson Rouge, Rebar, Atlas Social Club and the Pines.
216) Munroe Lilly
This androgynous, edgy Brooklyn-based burlesque artist isn’t just getting GLAM love this year (although he is, that)… he’s one of the most booked and beloved performers in the biz.
215) DJ Nicky Boom Box
Nick Padron, aka Nicky Boom Box, continues to keep the beat going for various parties and drag shows in the city, particular those in Pieces and Hardware.
214) DJ David Serrano
He’s been known to bring whacky, cranky rants on politics and against his nightlife colleagues to his social media, but David is clearly still a go-to drag show DJ. He’s currently turning the knobs for one of the biggest shows out there, Industry’s QUEEN.
213) Sugga Pi Koko
This veteran comedy queen of Esqualita fame is equally comfortable giving you “hot mess” as she is “eleganza.” Sugga’s always a crowd favorite at the Voss Events Sunday Drag Brunch at the Highline Ballroom, and she now also performs Saturday nights at the Parilla Latin Bistro in Washington Heights.
212) DJ P_A_T
The cute Brooklyn DJ is spinning parties and shows all over the borough, particularly the Rosemont.
211) Stephanie Stone
This chic-beyond-words scene queen makes every party she’s at that much more fabulous with just her presence. Also giving you life at Lips, Stephanie is a real drag queen’s drag queen. When she called out Wendy Williams for being no ally to the queer community in early 2017, the world listened and took note.
210) Detoxx Busti-ae
Last Year’s Ice Palace Princess winner hosted her own show at the Palace this summer, bringing much needed Caribbean flavor to Fire Island. Catch her snapping nightlife pics all over town for her photography biz, DETOXXIMAGE.
209) House of Yes
Although it’s not hosting as many queer events as it had when it opened, no one can deny that this is still a really cool and unique space, complete with hot tubs and high wire acts. It was also the spot to be for Brooklyn Pride.
208)
This Brooklyn dance floor savage is actually as sweet as can be. A strong advocate for queer POCs and fellow trans people, Zenobia also made news as a recent participant in Drag Queen Story Hour.
207) DJ Eugene Edo
Woof! This hot daddy DJ is assaulting Manhattan with gigs all over town, including the Ritz, Therapy, Barrage and Rebar.
206)
A Brooklyn scene queen who’s just as likely to be serving looks at Manhattan parties from Susanne Bartsch or Frankie Sharp, Harajuku has since joined the Rosemont family.
205)
A fixture of almost every installment of Sasha Velour’s “NIGHTGOWNS” to date, Olive is known for her cabaret crooning. But she can also turn a fierce dance mix and is a killer MC, as she showed when she hosted the Drag Race viewing party at Bizarre this year, when her bestie Sasha took the crown.
204) Shiny Penny
Brooklyn’s favorite door pixie got some shows of her own this year, having officially joined up with Ruby Roo and Ragamuffin for “Mondays on Mondays” at Macri Park and hosting her own monthly show there as well.
203.
This dominatrix and burlesque performer sports some heavy fetish looks that can be downright startling, but certainly never boring. Catch them hosting a new monthly showcase at Bizarre Bushwick, “Hardcore.”
202)
Another queen in the Rosemont’s “OOPS Wednesday” crew, this sassy, southern-fried performer also hosts the borough’s only Monday night karaoke there.
201) Matty Glitterati
New York nightlife’s favorite horny otter continues to tear it up behind the DJ booth in Brooklyn and the East Village, and this year introduced a hot new party “FEMME” which currently resides at Club Cumming. He’s also become a fixture at Chelsea’s Rebar for FuqBoi Saturdays.
Thotyssey 