Goners: 25 sex clubs

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Everard Baths (NYC)
‘No one knows exactly how many men were inside the Everard Baths in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 25, 1977. Maybe there were 80 to 100, as the building owner estimated later. Maybe there were more. Tuesday night was a big night at the baths, and many of the men would have rented one of the 135 tiny cubicles for $7 for 12 hours, or just a locker for $5. They would have been hanging out in the steam room or the sauna, grabbing something to eat from the snack shop in the lobby, swimming laps in the heavily chlorinated pool in the basement, getting a massage, smoking a joint, buying drugs from the attendant on the third floor, or having sex on a bed in one of the private cubicles or the big, communal L-shaped dormitory, also known as the orgy room. But by the time the fire engines came wailing down 28th Street around 7 a.m., nine men — trapped inside a building with blocked-up windows and no fire escapes — would not make it out alive.

‘In his memoir City Boy: My Life in New York During the 1960s and 1970s, Edmund White remembers the Everard as “filthy … It didn’t have the proper exits or fire extinguishers, just a deep, foul-smelling pool in the basement that looked infected.” And Rumaker describes seeing a naked man who looked uncomfortable lying in his cubicle: “In spite of his display of nudity and the knuckle-whitened hand clenched at his crotch, he appeared, from the tension in his face, in no way to be awaiting some delightful erotic occurrence. If anything, he looked afraid of getting beaten up, or murdered — not uncommon fears in the backs of the minds of most gay males. But here that seemed, though not impossible, at least less likely to occur than elsewhere.”‘

 

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Club Echangiste Louis Poirson (France)
‘Another libertine club victim of too severe administrative rules. After several warnings and hefty fines, the manager had no other solution than to close his establishment in 2008. You are certainly not aware of it, but these places, with light mores, are subject to several rules that must be observed.

‘The rule that this club too often neglected and which ultimately sentenced it to death was a failure to comply with the maximum quota of people allowed in orgy. Indeed, since 1998, the state has limited this practice to 8 people. In the past, several cases of fatal suffocation prompted the administration to respond. Too many people in an orgy can lead to a lack of oxygen and breathing.’

 

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Sewers of Paris (Hollywood)
1969-1976

 

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Plato’s Retreat (NYC)
‘Opened in 1977, Plato’s Retreat held court in the basement of the then-crumbling Beaux Arts Ansonia Hotel on Broadway and West 74th Street.

‘Management laid out strict rules: No gay men, couples only (though women could have sex with each other), no drugs, no booze.

‘Celebrities indulged in orgies with regular joes and janes from the suburbs. A “mat room” was for exhibitionist sex. Clothes were optional. Guests could bump uglies in the disco, the Jacuzzi, and the huge swimming pool.

‘Of course, it wouldn’t last long. In 1980, Plato’s Retreat moved out of the Ansonia to a much bigger space at 509 West 34th Street. Owner Larry Levenson went to prison for tax evasion in 1981.

‘And then AIDS hit the city. Mayor Koch ordered the health department to shut down gay bathhouses as well as straight sex clubs like Plato’s Retreat. By 1985, it was over.’

 

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Unknown (Wales)
‘Due to the nature of the place the history of it is a bit hard to come by as it was shrouded in secrecy. Even the members weren’t allowed to talk about what went on here.’

 

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Tweedland Gentlemen’s Club (London)
‘The Cleveland Street scandal occurred in 1889, when a homosexual male brothel in Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, London, was discovered by police. At the time, sexual acts between men were illegal in Britain, and the brothel’s clients faced possible prosecution and certain social ostracism if discovered. It was rumoured that one client was Prince Albert Victor, who was the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and second-in-line to the British throne, though this rumour has never been substantiated. The government was accused of covering up the scandal to protect the names of any aristocratic patrons.

‘Another client was said to be Lord Arthur Somerset, an equerry to the Prince of Wales. Both he and the brothel keeper, Charles Hammond, managed to flee abroad before a prosecution could be brought. The male prostitutes, who also worked as telegraph messenger boys for the Post Office, were given light sentences and no clients were prosecuted. After Henry James FitzRoy, Earl of Euston, was named in the press as a client, he successfully sued for libel. The British press never named Prince Albert Victor, and there is no evidence he ever visited the brothel, but his inclusion in the rumours has coloured biographers’ perceptions of him since.

‘The scandal fuelled the attitude that male homosexuality was an aristocratic vice that corrupted lower-class youths. Such perceptions were still prevalent in 1895 when the Marquess of Queensberry accused Oscar Wilde of being an active homosexual.

‘HISTORICAL NOTES: In 1889, the year in which this scandal takes place, it is legal for girls aged 12 and boys aged 14 to marry (with parental consent). Most people started work at the age of 6 (or younger) to help support their families and men had a life expectancy of just 40-45 years of age. Male homosexuality was illegal and punishable, if convicted of buggery, to penal servitude for life or for any term of not less than ten years. The death penalty for buggery had only recently been abolished in 1861.’

 

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Bolero (Switzerland)
‘Bolero club is a sauna/swingers club. We provide a private atmosphere where you can mix and mingle with other swingers from all around the world. Come and be adventurous.’

 

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Basic Plumbing (Seattle)
‘David Meinert, the indefatigable restaurant and music impresario behind the 5 Point Cafe in Belltown and Big Mario’s on E. Pike, is teaming up with the similarly indefatigable Jason Lajeunesse (Capitol Hill Block Party and a partner in Big Mario’s) on a new 24-hour diner for Capitol Hill.

‘The location is the building that currently houses Basic Plumbing, a gay bathhouse on 10th Avenue, around the corner from The Comet tavern and next to Elliott Bay Cafe. “The layout will be very similar to the 5-Point,” Meinert tells Eater. “The menu will be the same: big portions, stiff drinks.”

‘Basic Plumbing wasn’t like other bathhouses where you disrobed and walked around in a towel or nothing at all. Quite the contrary, you just walked around and around and around and around in semi-darkness wearing the clothes you came in with.

‘The labyrinth-like rooms and pathways were all situated on one floor. Along one corridor are a series of short stalls; I’m assuming this area was perfect for gay midgets or men who simply wanted to have a seat on their knees. I seem to remember a lounge area where you can surf the web or purchase a soft drink.’

 

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Swingers Tiki Palace (Chattanooga)
‘Tiki Palace in Chattanooga, Tennessee, hosted hundreds of seedy sex parties after it was built in the 1970s but it was abandoned after the owner Billy Hull was jailed for murder.’

 

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Club Sex Alcatraz (Prague)
‘Alcatraz was actually two venues: a typical Czech pub (but with a gay clientele) and underneath a gay sex club, particularly popular with the leather and uniform crowd. Although to some eyes the place could seem a bit rough, it was well liked due to its lack of attitude and overall friendliness. The sex club was well equipped with dark rooms, video cabins and various other speciality rooms. Many locally produced porn movies were shot in its location. They had naked parties every Sunday. There was a modest entrance fee.’

 

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Utopia (Staffordshire)
‘Dom Jennings, 29, from Stoke-on-Trent, has visited dozens of old buildings, including Utopia – an old swingers club in Staffordshire – and began taking pictures of the sites as a hobby during lockdown. While exploring the venue he came across a salt bath, caged rooms, membership forms of those who visited the club, stilettos, wigs and BDSM apparatus.

Utopia was closed in 2007, and boasted a swimming pool, jacuzzi and sauna room along with a host of private rooms for guests to enjoy each others company in. ‘It was really creepy to walk around, the whole place was falling down and I could see all these different X-rated rooms, god knows what went on here.

”I stumbled across wigs, and what I think were sex dungeons, they were little rooms with caged entrances and they looked like jails. I did some research and found the name out, it closed a while ago and at one point caught fire and has been left alone since. I came across a BDSM table which I opted not to touch because of who had probably touched it in the past, the whole place was like a museum to its former self.’

 

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Caligula (Astoria, Queens)
‘An illegal swingers’ club violating health and liquor laws with more than 80 attendees was shut down Sunday by the New York City’s Sheriff’s Office, authorities said. Two organizers and a club patron of Caligula were charged with multiple demeanors, the sheriff’s office said. The location did not have a liquor license or special permit to sell or store alcohol, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies said they arrived shortly after midnight on Sunday at the “sex club” in Astoria, Queens, where they allegedly observed 3 couples engaging in sexual intercourse in one small room. The bust comes days after Gov. Andrew Cuomo expanded the city’s Covid-19 micro-cluster plan last Wednesday to include Astoria under the “yellow zone,” which caps mass gatherings at 25 people.’

 

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The Meat Market (Gardena, CA)

 

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Kino-Labyrinth (Vienna)
‘As the name might already indicate, it was a labyrinth where you dove into the mysterious world of erotic: separées, cosy cabins, artificial landscapes and much more. Although most popular among gay men, it was open to heterosexuals, bis, queers, the transgendered, and everything in between. Ten different programmes were displayed on monitors and cinemas. It closed permanently in July 2020 during the COVID pandemic.’

 

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The Mineshaft (NYC)
‘Upon arrival the Mineshaft’s nondescript street-level door opened to a stairway which led up to the doorkeeper, sitting on a barstool. If you could pass muster you were let in.

‘The Mineshaft had rules of entrance, denim and leather only, no shirts with little alligators, no sneakers, and absolutely no cologne. But once inside everything was fair game. The Mineshaft existed for one reason and one reasons alone.. SEX. Pure hedonistic no-limits sex.

‘Just inside the door was the big bar area with its low lights and pool tables. Behind a partition was the “action” part of the club on two floors. There was an entire wall of glory holes with people kneeling in front of crotch-high holes and servicing disembodied erections.

‘A whole rabbit warren of small rooms was downstairs, a re-creation of a jailcell, the back of a truck, dungeons and the most infamous room talked about in NYC at the time. A room where there was a bathtub in which men so inclined would would take turns being pissed on. But there were glimpses of romance at the Mineshaft: in the basement two stoned men are kissing passionately under black light.unaware of everyone around them, while feet away another man was blindfolded sitting in a sling while a group of men took turns fucking him.

‘The Mineshaft was closed by the New York City Department of Health on November 7, 1985.’

 

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Private Eyes Club (Niagara Falls)
‘I spent my share of time here with friends over the years, whether it was a fun filled lunch while attending Niagara College, or during some crazy nights while I served in the Army reserves in St Catherines, Private Eyes was always a dump but provided a few nights of entertainment.

‘Looking back at my exploration of this abandoned strip club, it was DISGUSTING, there were three areas for private dances and in every one of them I found multiple open condom packages, used and unused condoms and other various and equally disgusting things scattered about the floor, the tables and on the couches themselves.

‘Upstairs in the change-rooms, lockers still had locks on them some were opened and full of high heels, make up, bras, underwear and more condoms. I was very careful to touch nothing and only film and take photos.’

 

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Club Latex (Louisville, Kentucky)
‘Construction workers made an unusual discovery while they were excavating below a historic area of Louisville, Kentucky. Unnerving oil paintings and a decrepit bondage bed with a rusted chain pulled by a handle at one end give hints to what may have been a sado-masochistic swingers club of years past. The erotic discovery was made beneath a buildings on the city’s historic Whiskey Row when a demolition team went in as part of a restoration project that is expected to cost $7 million.

‘According to local station WHAS-11, the club was found two floors below 119 East Main Street. The area was originally known for its connection to the city’s bourbon whiskey production, and in keeping with that tradition, they found 1,000 discarded whiskey bottles. While that was fitting with the area’s industry, the torture chamber was obviously less expected.

‘A wooden rack with a rusted chain at one end that could be cranked by an operator shows how an element of pain was certainly involved with the basement’s former use. The eerie oil paintings of ghouls in outstretched sado-masichistic positions give a very clear picture of what the intended use of the club was. WHAS reports that the club opened in the 1970s and remained operational until the 1990s.’

 

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Paresis Hall (NYC)
‘The good looking teen age boys in the photographs were a famous cyclist and an artisocrat’s son, and both were “workers” at the infamous “Paresis Hall” male brothel that was located in New York City. Situated on Fifth & Bowery, off of Coopers Square. Paresis was one of 3 male to male clubs that existed in NYC beginning in 1890. The number of clubs increased to no fewer than 6 by the early 1900’s, which leaves one to wonder in Victorian Society, when this sort of behavior… simply did not exist… business was brisk! Male bonding was practiced to the extreme in every possible way.’

 

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Man’s Country (Chicago)
‘During its 44 years in Chicago, Man’s Country evolved into a complex of repeatedly changing spaces. Local gay historian Owen Keehnen, who co-wrote with Reader publisher Tracy Baim a biography of Chuck Renslow, says Man’s Country at one point boasted a leather shop and a shop selling western wear, alongside its gym, whirlpool, glory holes, and music hall.

‘“I think one of the things that [Renslow] really focused on was that it was much more than a place to go just for sex; it was also a communal area,” Keehnen says. “It was very important to him to have the music hall, and that the music hall, you know, would have entertainment. And it could be a place to socialize.”

‘In an essay on his website, “Brotherhood of the White Towel,” Keehnen also described how Man’s Country brought in popular performers with a gay cult following, including Boy George, the Village People, and Divine.

‘And as a testament to the love for Man’s Country, a 13-hour New Year’s Eve party closed the storied space, with some patrons taking a literal piece of it with them. Adam and Skye Rust, the owners of Andersonville’s Woolly Mammoth Antiques & Oddities, removed a handful of the glory holes in the days after the space closed, selling all but one. The remaining glory hole now hangs proudly in their shop.’

 

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Maison le prostituée (Netherlands)
‘My name’s Takiany and I am 28 years old! In company with my friends I’d like to travel across Europe exploring abandoned places!’

 

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Les Bains Douches (Paris)
‘Before it became an icon of Parisian nightlife, it was Marcel Proust’s favourite bath house a century earlier. In 1978, it became Paris’ answer to Studio 54, overflowing with famous faces; a cultural institution fuelled by sex, drugs, disco … and midnight swimming.

‘“Magnifique, Magique, Mythique”, writes one former patron describing Les Bains Douches, reminiscing over the photo gallery of the former nightclub’s resident photographer, Foc Kan. We’re looking at his raw photographs of the years he spent snapping the debaucherous goings on at the legendary night spot. The ‘Belle Époque’ of clubbing, if you will, he claims was around 1985, “when we didn’t know all about AIDs. Everyone was having sex with everyone, anytime, anywhere, we were free.”’

 

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Dragon Club (Singapore)
‘Mixed sauna with steam room, private cabins, maze, and TV lounge. Massage service and free WiFi. Hosted weekly themed events including Skin Nite on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Drinks and instant noodles were available for purchase, and there was a smoking area located within the rooftop garden. It had a relaxed atmosphere with a welcoming policy that “never rejects anyone in Singapore”. No membership fee. Located on Pagoda Street (above a Thai restaurant). Closed permanently April 2020’

Weilun –
“Went there on the 4th day of chinese new year. Totally turned off, major turn off moment in there!! Freaking CNY music playing with bunches of old women!
HELLO DJ! You expect your patron sing along with your cny song while looking women? Please choose your song list wisely… its a sauna, not cny bazaar…“

CNY –
“Hello!! It is Chinese New Year. You shouldn’t go out looking women if you dislike Chinese new year song.“

Jonathan –
“Lots of old women! When I say old I really mean it, it’s like grandmas age Chinese old women…
Spend nearly 2 hours and hardly see young women.“

Timmy –
“After paying full amount to get in, I find the place empty and dirty, I go back to the niceguy at the reception, he starts getting aggressive and shouts at me: “leave now leave now ” and he insults me. Do not go there.“

Kong –
“Dragon Club supposedly occupied from a former abandoned club, inherited almost all of the premise property and space. Some shower nozzles are already ripped off, paint work of the walls peeling off, stench smell almost all over, rooms are dirty, etc. They should have done some renovation before taking over the place. Look from this angle, no chill section, steam room notorious dark, movement between 2 separate sets of rooms can be horrific with those flimsy staircase, no sauna, rooms just disgusting when you lie down…all for 12 bucks.”

 

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Vivente (Sunderland, UK)
‘A sadomasochist swingers club complete with its own dungeon was run as a deathtrap, a court heard. Vivente private members club, in Sunderland, was closed down following an inspection which ruled lives of customers were placed in danger. The court heard the club was littered with candles, while walls were coated with a flammable plastic material and escape routes were strewn with combustible objects.

‘Loss of life in the event of a blaze was said to be a “significant possibility”. Vivente, which boasted on its website that it was equipped with “stocks, sex-swing and plenty of implements to inflict pain”, could accommodate as many as 60 punters and had a dungeon. The club had been operating for around 12 months when fire inspectors descended on the property in April 2015 following a tip-off. Prosecutor David Claxton said the “physical restraints, including stocks, would, self-evidently, increase the risk to life in the event of a fire”.’

 

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The New St. Marks Baths (NYC)
‘The New St. Marks Baths was the premiere gay bathhouse in New York City and was located at 6 St. Marks Place in the East Village of Manhattan from 1979 to 1985. It claimed to be the worlds largest gay bathhouse with 230 lockers, 162 cubicles/rooms, a pool, several lounges, a roof deck, a steam room with portholes in the wall like the ones you would see on a cruise ship and a 24 hour cafe.

‘The first floor contained locker rooms, showers and the cafe. The basement contained a swimming pool, more showers, an enormous Jacuzzi, and a large, darkened room with a vinyl-covered mattress that must’ve been 40′ x 40′ where all manner of groping was going on. The upstairs three floors contained seemingly miles of hallway and hundreds of rooms.. Doors ajar with men waiting within.

‘But that began to change in 1981 when the AIDS epidemic began. The Saint Marks and other bathhouses attempted to do what they could. They passed out condoms and placed posters and literature on safe sex throughout the establishments but some gay activists such as Larry Kramer became so “sex panic” obsessed that they wanted ALL the bathrouses’ closed.. And seizing the opportunity (and in some cases the land) the city of New York was glad to oblige.

‘In October 1985 New York State Sanitary Code (10 NYCRR) § 24.2, authorized the New York City Department of Health to close any facilities “in which high risk sexual activity takes place. This code would eventually lead to the clean-up of 42nd street and 8th Avenue. And so on December 9, 1985 the City began the process of targeting and closing and and all gay bathhouses and backrooms and the St. Marks Baths was the first one on it’s list.

‘As the story goes when health officials came to close the place down the staff could not find the front door key. The New York City Department of Health had to purchase and install a lock on the building, because in its 72 years that the St. Marks had been in existence it had never closed. Shortly after its closure graffiti covered the outside walls of the building saying, “Finally!” and “Fuck Fags!”’

 

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Unknown (Honshu Island, Japan)
‘In July 2019, Bob found what he claims is the biggest and most high-end love motel he has ever seen, on Honshu island, Japan. The motel, whose precise location Bob did not reveal for fear of vandalism, is a maze of rooms containing colourful furniture, moving beds, clusters of mirrors to watch your partner from different angles and even a bondage room with a rotating wheel. You accessed your room through a garage door, communicate with the reception via telephone and put your money in a tube which would deliver it to them. You didn’t have to see anyone other than your partner for your whole stay.

‘There was the ‘Action Room’ where couples could have a boxing match before a bonking session. One room had Merry-go-round beds for those wanting a bit of horse play. There was a casino themed Playboy room with a roulette wheel above the bed. One room had Spaceship beds which moved along tracks as couples romped.

‘Bob said: “This place had the craziest rooms I’ve ever seen, including moving UFO beds, a rotating merry-go-round bed, a bondage room and many more. “In Japan you often get multiple generations living in the same house, so people used to come here to have some privacy and fun and get a break from their busy life. You can only find love motels like this one in Latin America and Asia.” According to Bob, the motel he visited was active during the Showa era, when similar facilities were much more common than today.’

 

 

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p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Brautigan’s work’s charm is strangely resilient. Thanks for the Gaddis link. ** Misanthrope, Me either. I used to see him pop up on Facebook very occasionally to share this or that, but I’m not sure if he’s still active there. Was there any pleasure whatsoever in the CT scan? It sounds like whatever stimulus they pass for the masses themselves is going to be very teeny weeny. ** Milk, Oh, cool, I hope you like them! ** Bill, Hi, B. Like I said to Misa, L@rstonivich aka Larry was on Facebook, but … well, let me check. Hold on. No, he appears to have bailed on that platform. Ideally I will be re-hooked up with sound via little plug dealies by this evening. I didn’t know Joel had died. That’s sad news. Interesting guy, very nice. I remember really liking ‘From Black to Blue’, which I think was one of his Serpents Tail books. ST has let pretty much all of their books from that era, including mine, and all the High Risk titles, go totally out of print, the bastards. ** Brian O’Connell, Hey Brian. Fiction is definitely running rampant in the escort trolling community. I’m very picky in what I borrow, but the commenting section has become little more than a kind of social media for sexual fantasists. Well, yeah, from what you say it sounds like the worst that could happen in your ‘Salo’ viewing would be a lot of laughter and declarations of ‘Oh shit’ and the like. Ha ha, oh your poor dad, but he does sound like a good dad. Anyway, yes, fill me in please. Nice, you’re so lucky about the snow. As I’ve often said, climate change has robbed Paris of snowfall except for a few totally freakish 10 or 20 minute long outpourings if we’re very lucky. Math … do you like math, or are you good at it? It and I were kind of a disastrous couple. The Buche … well, it’s the one at the top of the list that looks like pottery, but it apparently sold out within minutes, so now the hotel that offered it is instead selling individual versions, so presumably the same thing but the size of a goblet or something. So we’ll be devouring three of those. I’ll probably score one more different Buche next week for the actual holiday. Today’s eating ceremony is because Zac and Michael are going away for Xmas. Bonnest of the possibly bon Thursdays to you! ** Okay. Today the blog offers you the latest in its series of occasional posts featuring defunct things of a building-housed nature, in this case … well, the title says it all. See you tomorrow.