New St. Marks Baths
The New St. Marks Baths was a gay bathhouse at 6 St. Marks Place in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City from 1979 to 1985. It claimed to be the largest gay bath house in the world.[citation needed]
| The New St. Marks Baths | |
|---|---|
Site of the bathhouse in 2009 (left), after being extensively renovated for retail use | |
| Former names | The Saint Marks Baths |
| General information | |
| Type | Gay bathhouse |
| Location | Manhattan, New York City, New York |
| Address | 6 St. Marks Place |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 40°43′45″N 73°59′22″W / 40.729218°N 73.98949°WCoordinates: 40°43′45″N 73°59′22″W / 40.729218°N 73.98949°W |
| Opened | 1913 |
| Renovated | 1979 |
| Closed | December 9, 1985 |
| Owner | Bruce Mailman |
| Other information | |
| Facilities | private rooms, sauna |
The Saint Marks Baths opened in the location in 1913. Through the 1950s, it operated as a Turkish bath catering to Russian-Jewish immigrants on New York's Lower East Side. In the 1950s, it began to have a homosexual clientele at night. In the 1960s, it became exclusively gay.[1]
In 1979, the bathhouse was refurbished, and the name was changed to the New Saint Marks Baths. In 1981, the neighboring building was purchased, with plans to expand.[2]
The AIDS epidemic caused some activists such as Larry Kramer to urge its closing.[citation needed]. In October 1985, an emergency resolution updating the New York 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."[3] Despite providing information on AIDS and condoms to all patrons, the New St. Mark's Baths was closed permanently on December 7, 1985. [4]
References
- ^ Leap, William (1999). Public sex gay space. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10691-2.
- ^ Moore, Patrick (2004). Beyond shame: reclaiming the abandoned history of radical gay sexuality. Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-7956-1.
- ^ "Court Upholds Power to Close Gay Bathhouses - City of New York v New St. Mark's Baths, 130 Misc. 2d 911, 497 N.Y.S.2d 979 (1986)". Biotech.law.lsu.edu. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ Purnick, Joyce (December 7, 1985). "City Shuts a Bathhouse as Site of 'Unsafe Sex'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-09-13.