She fed cherries she pulled from her g-string to paying customers. Back in the seventies, she was the only Black dancer making “white girl money.” She danced in clubs frequented by so many mobsters that she started learning Italian. A regular in NYC’s drag scene, she hung out with the most fashionable gays and queens in all of New York. She would later make costumes for strippers and porn stars. Kicked out of her home by her mother after becoming pregnant at 17 years old, Tanqueray rose from the ashes and went on to study fashion at FIT. But few stories are as captivating as this one. Posting the project on Facebook and Instagram, some stories are filled with humor while others are gut-wrenching.
If you’re not familiar, Humans of New York is an ongoing portrait series by photographer Brandon Stanton and he’s been working on it for nearly a decade. One such story is that of a former stripper, Tanqueray. Every now and then, Humans of New York produces a story that moves us with its humanity.
