another nail in the coffin...

[+ Tom Isern]

New York as a city of fun sexual adventure (what used to be one of the most fun cities in the world) is slowly being laid to rest, one closed-down club at a time. One of the last holdouts died this week. Would that the "community" had the balls to stand up and fight for sexual freedom, but I guess we're too busy rushing to get married and move to the 'burbs and become bored and boring just like heterosexual, red Amerika. Maybe we'll get really lucky and El Mirage will be replaced by a Starbucks, or another bank, or--if we're REALLY lucky--another drugstore chain or fast food joint like Subway. Yummm!! Then the East Village will look just like Chelsea and Chelsea will look just like SoHo and SoHo will look just like Hells Kitchen and on and on and each "neighborhood" will have the same great banks and restaurants and the very same great drug stores and Starbucks that every other neighborhood has. No one need ever feel inconvenienced because their Mocha Shit-Lala Lupy Drink is missing from their immediate reach. Every block in the city, after all, NEEDS at least two or three Starbucks, doesn't it? The really, really great news: Children visiting from New Jersey will feel equally at home in all neighborhoods! Aren't we lucky!! The strip-mallification of Manhattan procedes at pace, let us all rejoice and be glad!

 

Received via e-mail:

 

Dear Members, Wednesday night the New York City Task force, Helath department, police, fire department and lawyers all came into the club to close the club down. This has taken us by surprise to say the least. So an end of an era has come to be. We here can't thank you enough for your patronage and enthusiasm. We hope you will treasure the great guys you met at the club and the hot, glorious times you particitpated in. Many of you made some good friends here and some of you even met boyfriends/partners here. Just goes to show what can happen when hearts, mind and bodies all come together to share an experience. El Mirage wishes you the best of luck and health in all your endeavors. Have a fully stuffed Thanksgiving and an extra happy New Year's. Thank you again for all your support. Look forward to seeing you around town. The men of El Mirage

[Rick Munroe]

Tom, it's not true that all of the sex clubs are gone. We now have Larry Flynt's Hustler Club, Scores, Privilege, Bare Elegance, Lace, The VIP Club, Ten's World Class Cabaret...oops, wait, those are all for straight men. But I'm sure they won't get closed down because I'm sure there's no drugs or sex going on in those places... :o

[Candyman]

The place that their is no sex going on is in the bedrooms of the guys that go to the "straight clubs"

 

What next, Disney opening a club in Times Square. They own the all rest of it

[Cooper]

When the Health and Fire Departments enter an establishment to shut it down, it's usually because of code violations. Prior to this, I bet the club owners received numerous citations to correct these problems. Obviously, the owners did nothing about it. In this case, it sounds more like a safety issue than anything else.

[+ Tom Isern]

Nice theory, Cooper, but there's absolutely nothing "obvious" about your conclusion. The club had been open at least eight years. You are right about one thing: If the city wants to shut you down, they will find a way to do so. If you believe this was about fire code violations, I have some oceanfront property in South Dakota for sale...

[Cooper]

Tom: Every day establishments are closed down by the Health and Fire Departments in NYC, it's not just gay clubs. Don't be so sensitive... All the owner has to do is correct his violations and he can reopen. Club Avalon was shut down for 3 weeks before their back taxes were paid. Now it's business as usual. Splash bar was shut down for 1 week and they too re-opened. It happens all the time.

 

As for your snide remark about ocean front property, you'd be that last person I'd take investment advice from. I've done very well on my own thank you.

 

If you're at a loss for things to do in NYC, check out the gay mags Next and HX, they have hundreds of ideas.

[+ Lucky]

Having actually been to the El Mirage, I can verify that is was a dump. It was not conducive to sex unless you were stoned, and I wans't. So I left. If the closing of a place like that is a loss for the gay community, then so be it.

[RockHard]

Thank you, Copper, for offering a more balanced point of view to consider. Conspiracy theorists who jump to biased conclusions based on a cynical perspective don't serve the truth in any way.

 

I've never heard of El Mirage and, judging by its name and description, it doesn't sound like a gay club I'd have any interest in visiting. But, then again, I wouldn't be caught dead on ManHunt. So, no great loss to this NYC gay man.

[SAdler]

I'm gonna agree that someone was jumping off the deepend with that conspiracy theory and mistaking gentrification with constructive progression.

 

Losing a sex club which doesn't seem to be that well acclaimed and god forbid having an extra place for people to grab a drink or lunch and socialize doesn't seem all the awful. Unless I'm mistaken, can't you just head to the West or East side clubs?

 

A serious concern if youw ant to talk Health and City conspiracies is the recent ultimate closure of the Roxy. That's something to complain about.

[Rick Munroe]

I'd never been to El Mirage (or any other sex club or bath house in NYC) but I think the point was that we've lost many gay establishments in general, from bookstores (A Different Light) to coffee shops (Big Cup) to restaurants (18th & 8th). Actually, I didn't frequent any of those places, either, but it was nice to know they were there. However, I don't sit around mourning their demise and I've come to accept that this is a very different city than it was just a few years ago. But it is kind of creepy that there are suddenly so many Ba-Da-Bing Soprano's-type strip clubs (or as they now call them, "gentlemen's cabarets") throughout NYC, while places like the Gaiety are gone.

[tazmanian5230]

>A serious concern if you want to talk Health and City

>conspiracies is the recent ultimate closure of the Roxy.

>That's something to complain about.

 

The list goes on and on in NYC with clubs that have been closed that are or were gay or gay friendly,

Palladium

Studio 54

Tunnel (closed weekly)

Visage

Red Zone

Red Parrot /Emerald City

Exit

Lime Light

 

To Coopers point, SOME times you are granted permission to reopen after being closed for weeks and having to pay lawyers hundreds of thousands of dollars. The city knows most times after a club has been shut down in the middle of the night the club will never reopen. It is and has been a long game of how deep are your pockets to fight city hall.

 

str8 cops enforcing laws in gay clubs leads to them being closed monthly. If I can remember Roxy has been closed several times in the past 5 years.

[uwsman2]

I used to go to El Mirage years ago, but after a while just stopped going. It was poorly maintained and the crowd, to the extent there was one, was arriving later and later. There was also plenty of "unsafe" sex going on and little attempt to comply with city health codes. So I suspect there were numerous grounds to shut it down.

[Funseeker 22]

Sounds like Slammer Club in LA (slammerclub.com)which is worth a visit when you`re in town if only to see what certain places in NYC used to be like. This place packs them in nightly and will have anything you desire going on. All legal and zoned that way. It`s kinky and seedy but can be a learning experience. ;-)

[+ Tom Isern]

Well guys, El Mirage wasn't my favorite joint either. I went maybe once a year just to see if public sex would ever return to NYC. It hasn't. The crowd there was older, scarier (less safe) and smaller each time I went.

 

I would just like to repeat that each year New York City gets more and more heterosexualized, as Rick has been pointing out. Opportunities for people—well, gay men—who want interesting and diverse sex lives are becoming fewer and fewer. No wonder NYSC and David Barton have such problems keeping their steam rooms under control—there is no place else to go! The West Side Club is supposed to be closing too—no loss there—it’s a tweakers’ den. And the East Side Club is a dump. Hell, this SHOULD please me. Frustrated men are the ones calling escorts, right?

 

I think of the day sauna in Amsterdam (Thermos?). The place has a pool, a Turkish bath, a steam bath, a BAR with real alcohol where you can hang out and chat and share a beer, a movie theater, a restaurant, and hundreds of cruising cubicles for sex. Gay men go there for an entire day—yes, it’s busy at NOON on weekdays—to hang and chat and socialize and meet. Sex isn’t relegated to a dirty illicit black dungeon (open only at midnight) where you’re treated like scum when you enter and going there is a dirty little secret you wouldn’t tell your friends. We are SO erotiphobic in this puritanical little-minded country! And New York is growing more and more like Kansas every day!

 

In Paris there is a club (Universal?) that is ½ gym with great equipment and beautiful guys and ½ bathhouse with the works. You can go, work out, and after you’re good and hard meet a hottie to do the hard nasty with before going home. Nice.

 

The “bathhouse” in Cologne has a beautiful outdoor pool and a complete restaurant and bar. It’s luxurious. Nothing like the dumps we are relegated to here in NYC. And speaking of amazing bathhouses, anyone been to Chicago or Ft. Lauderdale?

 

Oh yea, there are a lot of parties for drinkers listed in Next and HX—this is a great city for alcoholics and druggies—and there are private sex parties, some of which I know well from previous experience. But where, I ask you, can gay men go to gather in public and enjoy having sex and watching people have sex? …meet and greet new and different people from all walks of life in a sex-affirming and sex-positive environment? In Berlin this happens in the gay pool halls and bars—like it used to here. The Puritan minds in charge of New York City today consider such things filthy, degrading, and dangerous. We are all “supposed” to lead heteronormative, monogamous, coupled lives.

 

I’d move to Berlin in a heartbeat, if I were free to do so. But why is NYC—supposedly the most sophisticated and progressive city in America—such a loser when it comes to public sex venues?

[RockHard]

Farewell, Tom Isern.

 

"I’d move to Berlin in a heartbeat, if I were free to do so."

Well, I, for one, am sorry you're not free to do so. I sure hope you have a really good reason (I can think of only a few) because I just can't imagine living anywhere in this world and not being absolutely thrilled with my choice of home. Life is too short.

 

I've traveled extensively throughout my life and I continue to love most of my travel experiences but no other city brings me the pleasure, the joy, and the level of creativity/intelligence that I find here in NYC. I do feel lucky that I've had the opportunity to see, experience and compare. For me, the grass isn't greener.

 

Sex does not define the most important "fun" in my life, it never has. Maybe it's because I'm older, have the love of a child, and more serious responsibilities but I have no longing to visit a decrepit pier filled with unsafe male orgies or a sex palace with an abundance of dark back-rooms. I didn't label these places that much "fun" when I did visit them in the early 80's so, I don't miss them. Today, witnessing such wanton activity would only remind me of my fun and loving friends who died of AIDS. Talk about a staple gun to my hard-on.

 

I've been waiting for you to mention your desire to live elsewhere, Tom, and here it is. I guess as long as you're here (in NYC), we on the MC are stuck with the side-effects of your unhappiness. I appreciate the honesty.

[+ Tom Isern]

RE: Farewell, Tom Isern.

 

Yes, Rockhead. Some people, and your honesty reveals you are one of them, tend to get tired as they age, burdened down with "great" responsibilities, with less energy for a fulfilling sex life. Sex IS a horrible thing, from that perspective. So many people having so much fun and there you are, feeling all left out, working SO hard to make SO much money and to be so utterly fabulous--yet miserable. The truth is that sex is fun, and it isn't always dangerous. And if one believes Freud, it's at least as fulfilling, if not more, than all that money you claim to roll around in. Buck up, saggy belly! Go buy another pair of extra-large $100.00 underwear and you'll feel oh so fine again! It's called SUBLIMATION!

[RockHard]

RE: Farewell, Tom Isern.

 

Not at all surprised by the snide, bitter tone in your latest post, Tom. Your newly acknowledged, deep-rooted unhappiness was quite revealing. I expect every post from you to be snide and bitter: you've explained the root of your unhappiness and I accept the explanation.

 

However, and for the "fun" of it, I will say that I believe sex can be fun, too. I may be older but I'm stronger than ever. No saggy belly here, sweetie. My trainer won't have any of that. (And your disrespect for other possible "saggy bellied" customers is also no surprise. You sure know how to put a nail in a coffin.)

 

"Serious" responsibilities may be different than "great" ones. Unhappy people tend to change words to suit their negative agenda. Does it benefit anyone to discuss these differences with unhappy people like yourself? I think not.

 

Feeling left out? You would enjoy that if it were true, wouldn't you? Unhappy people don't like happy people. Was it Freud who said misery loves company? How many invites did you receive for Thanksgiving, turkey, or is this your worst holiday because misery is nothing to be thankful for?

 

And finally, my last post on this turkey thread, the $100 XL underwear wasn't the bees knees after all. That pair is for ass-less men like yourself. My new favorites cost twenty-something. Be sure and look for that report. I just can't wait for more snide and bitter responses from you.

[Guest john1927]

God and War.

I fear, Tom, that we may have to wait a long time before we reclaim liberal, New York City. Currently, the U.S. is fighting a war, and having its ass handed to it as usual, and wars always motivate Americans to appease God in the hope that, if God is happy, he/she won’t get us into another bloody mess.

Examples:

"In the middle of the American Civil War, President Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863." So Thanksgiving was declared in the U.S. tradition of trying to appease god during a war, in this case the Civil War. Unfortuately, the Thanksgiving ploy didn’t help poor Lincoln.

The motto IN GOD WE TRUST (others pay cash) was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War.

Shortly after WWII and just after the Korean War) on July 30, 1956 the President approved a Joint Resolution of the 84th Congress, declaring IN GOD WE TRUST the national motto of the United States. IN GOD WE TRUST was first used on paper money in 1957. In a congressional stroke of genius, our leaders realized that we kept having wars because the god motto wasn’t on paper money. Sadly that didn’t help. Next up the Vietnam War. God is still pissed.

The good point is that Trappist monks experience an upsurge in vocations during and after wars, which gets a lot of crazies off the streets.

I could go on and on. New York City is a sitting duck for religious revivalism because it is tripartite rule between the Pope, the Rebbe and the elected Mayor. When the establishment stops getting accolades for closing gay places down, will they, once again, revert to dragging gays into the police stations and booking them for no reason. No biggey; I’ve been there before

[Luv2play]

Tom, I hear you. I too once enjoyed New York for its edgy nightlife and great venues for sex. That era has passed into history it seems. You can see the same results in Key West and South Beach. Just dreary now and so many breeders everywhere, ugh.

 

I also agree that European cities still have "it", places like Berlin and Paris have something to cater to every taste. You are right that the bathhouses in Ft Lauderdale still are great ( I sometimes wonder for how long) as some of their best bars seem to have disappeared.

 

I am contented living in Montreal as we enjoy a pretty good scene for nightly entertainment (daytime too). The winters do get a tad cold though. :-(

[Rick Munroe]

>I too once enjoyed New York for its edgy

>nightlife and great venues for sex. That era has passed into

>history it seems.

 

I think the death of New York's great era (which I was too young to enjoy or participate in) can be traced back to one day:

 

http://www.boiseweekly.com/binary/109c62c5/Feature_Donald%20SheridanAndy%20Warhol%20Dead6.jpg

[+ Tom Isern]

RE: Farewell, Tom Isern.

 

Actually, Rockhead, it was Thoreau who sad “If misery loves company, misery has company enough”—quite a few years before Freud. Freud did argue, however, that suppressing sexual curiosity leads to general intellectual atrophy, including loss of the ability to think for oneself and the ability to be critical of one’s culture. Perhaps this is why you are so blissfully content with our tiny-minded town, arguably the most parochial big city in the world (and becoming more so with each passing day).

 

Oh, since you asked, I’ll be spending Thanksgiving with my boyfriend’s family out of state. This is our fifth Thanksgiving together—much to be thankful for!

[+ Tom Isern]

Hey Luv2play,

 

I am dying to get up to Montreal! I hear it is the most European city on the continent. And I’ve also heard about the great night life!

 

I share your worry about Ft. Lauderdale and Chicago. Eventually the breeders will figure out that guys are actually having sex in these establishments and then the great threat to social order, to the work ethic, to America and to Western civilization itself will necessitate their closing. A citizenry who fucks instead of shops is, after all, a massive threat to community norms!

[Luv2play]

Hey Tom,

Since you are in the same city, you should get Rick and Derek to give you the lowdown on Montreal. Rick has indicated on this site that they have had a pretty hot time on their past visits. Probably the best time to come is during one of the gay holidays such as Black and Blue or gay pride but even other times can be fun since there are a lot of gay-friendly places and a great Gay Village to give it all a focus. But Montreal has a lot more to offer than just gay stuff, lots of history and culture and a French joie de vivre.

 

Also if you make it up this way, drop me a pm or e-mail and we'll see what we can set up between ourselves!

[Luv2play]

Rick, if I recall, Andy passed away around 1987. Didn't Truman Capote die around the same time or was that a few years earlier? I also associate Capote and Tennessee Williams with that edgy New York style which seems to be a thing of the past. Too much gentrification, methinks. New York has become too homogeneous IMO.

[Guest zipperzone]

>Probably the best time to come is during one of the

>gay holidays such as Black and Blue or gay pride but even

>other times can be fun since there are a lot of gay-friendly

>places and a great Gay Village to give it all a focus.

 

When I was living there I found that June 24th "Fete de Saint Jean Baptiste" (my spelling probably sucks) was a hot weekend. Is it still as wild? I can remember many happy evening hours under the cross on Mount Royal - if you get my drift.