Jersey City's Popular LGBTQ Lounge 'Headroom' Abruptly Closes

JERSEY CITY, NJ — One of Jersey City's newer and quickly popular LGBTQ+ lounges was forced to close this week, ahead of its highly anticipated Memorial Day weekend events.

Headroom Lounge, located at 150 Bay Street in Downtown Jersey City, announced its abrupt closure on Wednesday via Instagram. The post was followed by a livestream from Co-Owner Joseph Cameron, who explained that the closure was related to a contract dispute he had with his former business partner and the space leaseholder, Howard Brunner.

Headroom Lounge opened its door in November 2020.

In an interview with Patch, Cameron said days before the lounge was closed, Brunner came to him to discuss the lounge's entertainment fees. The entertainment fees collected at the door are used to pay only the lounge entertainers and the entertainment coordinator, per the pair's contract, Cameron said.

"He saw an opportunity that a lot more money would be coming in, since restrictions are getting lifted and things like that, and he decided that he wanted to stick his hand into the honey pot, or apparently he would shut the place down," Cameron said.

Cameron added that he was open to renegotiating the original agreement but that he needed to get his lawyer involved.

"Literally the next day all I received was an email that said 'Thank you, we don't need your help anymore' and the locks were changed," Cameron said. Since Brunner is the leaseholder, he has control over the closure of the space.

Patch reached out to Brunner for comment via email and phone and did not receive a response.

This weekend, Headroom had a packed Memorial Day event schedule that included performances from resident performers like Anida Tension as well as a lineup of several RuPaul's Drag Race Queens including Shuga Cain, Nicky Doll and a surprise performance by Jiggly Caliente, among other performers. All the performances had to be canceled.

"This was all last minute, and it completely screwed all of them," Cameron said, "But no one was pissed — they were all sad, they were all apologetic."

Angry over the lack of notice for the closure, Cameron said he is discussing the next steps with his lawyer and believes there was a breach of contract.

"He was supposed to give 21 days notice if he decided to pull the plug, and he didn't" Cameron said. The situation has left employees and performers jobless, he noted.

Several downtown businesses have reached out to support and take in employees who have lost jobs, Cameron said. Surf City, Zeppelin Hall, Pint, 626 and The Ashford all reached out to Cameron to see how they could help, he said.

"I love them for that because not every place helps our community," Cameron said.

In an Instagram-Live post, performer and Entertainment Coordinator Anida Tension expressed sorrow for the lounge closure and reflected on memories made at Headroom.

"We gave a space for Queens who never had a stage before to perform in — that is gone," Tension said, "I am extremely grateful to every queen and every customer that has supported the venue."

A GoFundMe was started on Thursday in part by Tension, for the staff at the lounge who lost their jobs. The fundraiser's goal is $10,000 and so far, has raised close to $400.

"We want to do the best we can to help our brothers and sisters recoup their losses. All funds collected will go directly to the staff to help them," the GoFundMe page reads.

Cameron said he is looking for new spaces to reopen, with one possibly in the downtown area. Several other options on Cameron's list include venues in Asbury Park, Hell's Kitchen and Lyndhurst. While he values the options he has in venues, Cameron said he and the Headroom community's hearts are set on Jersey City.

"I don't want to leave Jersey City, I live here, and I want to make sure that the vibe we created, the community we created doesn't disappear," Cameron said in a livestream.

The disappointment is compounded by the fact that June is national LGBTQ+ Pride Month and the lounge was getting ready to introduce more performers and events as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

"The second things were supposed to get easier, they just got so much harder," Cameron said.

He maintained that the Headroom community will prevail soon and urged former patrons to keep the faith as well.

"This is a speed bump, not a wall," Cameron said, "The LGBTQ+ community is a resilient one because we have been forced to be."

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