New York Bear Den celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2019 by honoring five of its founding fathers. Left to right: Elyaqim Mark Adam, Michael Ceciliani, Carlin Langley, K.K. Kua, and Chaz Antonelli
In 2009, a small community of bears and bear lovers met to fill a void in the New York City bear community. Bears are social creatures, so therefore we created the New York Bear Den.
New York Bear Den provides a hate‐free, alcohol‐free, attitude‐free space to socialize once a month where bears and bear lovers can sit back, relax, chat, play games, and make friends with woofy guys of all ages, races, types and interests.
We also occasionally schedule additional social activities, such as park outings, movie nights, restaurant nights, parties, and shared events with other organizations, such as Pride events and fundraisers.
New York Bear Den welcomes all men that identify themselves as “bears” or "bear lovers." A bear, in our definition of the word, is a gay, bisexual or transgendered man with an average to large build, who may or may not have body hair and/or facial hair, a typically rugged (butch) demeanor, a tempered maturity and an optional interest in leather. NOTE: This includes those typically known as “cubs,”“chubs,”“chasers” and their male admirers, regardless of their own particular attributes or physical qualities.