But while the NYPD attempted to crack down on Mafia-run prostitution in the mid 1970s, during something known as “Operation Together,” the effort was eventually shut down in 1977. in his book, The Mafia and the Gays, the mob also plied the gay flesh trade, with bouncers “pimping out” patrons. The Mob designed the operations to maximize profits-from the cheap, watered-down alcohol sold at high mark-ups to the jukebox and bootleg cigarettes. In reality, the mob provided the liquor, leaving most bottles outside in cars or in hidden closets where they could be easily stashed during raids. Patrons, on entering, were asked to sign into a “membership” book, but most people entered faked names.
To get around laws that prohibited serving alcohol to LGBT patrons, many gay bars-including the Stonewall-operated ostensibly as “bottle bars,” private clubs where members would bring their own alcohol.
