For 42nd Street Grinhouses, I know that author John Rechy names quite a few in his early novels, such as CITY OF NIGHT. Not sure if James Leo Herlihy mentions them in MIDNIGHT COWBOY by name, or not. Possibly, looking at some feature films shot in New York, you could get a few names you hadn't thought about via second unit photography.
As for STAR!, I find the joys of the picture far outweigh the negatives. The script merely serves the purpose of getting from one song to the next, and Michael Kidd's production numbers are divoon. It's extremely odd to have an actress/singer of Julie's range portraying an actress whose singing voice was extremely limited, was not a great dancer, yet like Evita, had "stasr quality." Even with the script's limitations, there are still a few stand-out scenes; the reading of the script in front of the British censor board, "The quality of mercy" set-up and the confrontation with Aldrich work quite well.
I've never seen a murky, brownish STAR!, only the 70mm uncut version and the loverly laserdisc; I'm a bit annoyed that FOX chose not to include the intermission and the entr'acte, considering that they spent a few extra months getting this one together! (STAR! was originally to come out in August of last year).