“But it’s better than Olive Garden because there’s great drinks and queers everywhere.” Blankenship, a nonbinary lesbian, said from a perch with three friends outside of Cubbyhole, which had been closed since December. A bubbly bartender ran up and down the block to collect orders, promising she’d be back with drinks en masse, so everyone could drink together for the first time in five months.

Outside Cubbyhole, a tiny bar in the West Village, the street was as packed as it could be these days, with dozens of friends, couples and exes mingling in the early spring evening. After a long and brutal pandemic winter, all Han Blankenship wanted to do was get a drink with a few friends at their favorite bar.