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Further reading:The History of America's Gay Bathhouses
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Last updated on: 17 May 2025
Last updated on: 17-May-2025
268 East 10th Street, New York, New York 10009, United States, New York City, USA
Show on mapThe Russian & Turkish Baths, located at 268 East 10th Street in Manhattan's East Village, have been a staple of New York City's wellness scene since 1892.
Sweat it out and don’t forget to hydrate.
5. Spas, on the other hand, typically only offer private treatment rooms where guests receive individual services, which tend to be isolating.
Although bathhouses usually provide treatments like massage and body scrubs in addition to shared pool and sauna amenities, spas rarely have communal areas.
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Emotionally commit to one minute (or more) in the cold plunge.
3. The landscape of gay saunas in New York City has been shaped by its history, particularly during the devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, leading to the closure of many establishments. A fire in the 1970s gutted the building, but it reopened.
Then there was the Lafayette baths, run by the Gershwins and frequented by prominent artist Charles Demuth.
Become the pain.
4. Get in the cold plunge. Bring water into the sauna with you.
3. Many still struggle with the stigma attached to them by moral crusaders who gunned for them during the worst years of the HIV epidemic. The risks of police raids deterred some men from stepping into a gay bathhouse, but ultimately the need for intimate companionship outweighed the danger posed by police.
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And the raids certainly didn’t close New York’s bathhouses.
Less risky than meeting in public, regular patrons knew each other and could self-regulate the scene, looking out for each others’ safety.
Gay bathhouses weren’t just places to have sex. Wearing a cucumber eye mask… not so much
“Relaxation” massages, like you find at spas, focus on aromatherapy or hot stones and other pointless extras.
Control your breathing. Bathhouses provided a safe place for these men to gather. Instead, it has transformed, giving rise to alternative venues and vibrant events that capture the essence of New York's gay scene.
East Side Club, the city's lone traditional gay bathhouse survivor. Some cities, including San Francisco, continue to ban them.
And police harassment continues to be a threat to this day.
Focus on your inhales and exhales.
Bathhouses are all about communal gathering, with shared pools, saunas and steam rooms where people can socialize and recharge. Now in its fifth decade, East Side Club is a popular New York cruising site.
And many institutions provided entertainment, drinks and casual social events that catered to queer men who didn’t want to go to a bar. Infiltrating the establishment, they were aghast. It has since been updated.
Despite surviving 100 years of police harassment, though, the gay bathhouses of New York City couldn’t survive the homophobia of Mayor Ed Koch, who shut most of them down during the HIV epidemic.