East Side Club NYC

[AndyDandy]

Not sure this is the appropriate forum to ask this question, but I am hearing that East Side Club is permanently closed. Can anyone confirm that?

[DWnyc]

Old thread and you likely have the answer lol.

East Side still open, West Side Club closed permanently 

[AndyDandy]

Thanks!!  Never too late!  I haven't been there since 2019.  Any idea how it is these days?

[DWnyc]

I’ve heard it’s as rundown as ever but as the only option for that sort of thing in town it attracts a regular crowd at predictable times (week lunch for office workers, Friday and Saturday nights for the club crowd etc)

 

[12is12]

Cld someone pls elaborate gor the uninitiated? 

Address?

What to expect ?

Etc....

[AndyDandy]

NYC bathhouse on the east side.  I can't remember the street or the address.  Google it.  Usually an older crowd.  As with any bathhouse it is hit or miss.  I used to find lunchtime and after work (5-7pm) especially interesting.  If you've been to bathhouses in other cities - this one compares horribly.  No real amenities.  Not nice in any way.  Just a good place to get off - depending on the crowd and the time.  If you go, set your expectations very, very, very low.

[DWnyc]

When I first visited New York I think there were at least 8 places like this - and even then people were lamenting the “good old days” when there close to like 20.

They once fulfilled an important purpose but your phone can turn any city into a bathhouse these days. 

[12is12]

Thnk u Andy.

Ggld. Found a bathhouse in brkln, and an East Side sauna. 

In any case, since its so un rcmmndd - dsnt matter.

[pubic_assistance]

6 hours ago, DWnyc said:

When I first visited New York I think there were at least 8 places like this -

When was that ? The 60s ?

[Chidude]

Are there strippers at this reportedly rundown bathhouse?  Why is this a thread in the Male Stripper category?

[DWnyc]

1 hour ago, pubic_assistance said:

When was that ? The 60s ?

Ha I think it would have been double digits then

this is mid / late 2000s

let’s see from memory:

1. west side club

2. east side (the one we’re talking about in the thread)

3.Harlem,

4. flushing,

5. Roosevelt av,

6. Wall Street,

7. el mirage or something like that on Houston 

8. somewhere near Times Square 

I didn’t say they were good and I certainly didn’t experience them all - but they’d always be listed in the magazines (remember hard copy) available to promote events 

I have a friend who bought an apartment in a building near 72/Broadway that was the site of one of the famous ones (Bette milder used to sing there?) but then we really are going back in time 

[pubic_assistance]

I've been in NYC since the 90's. I've certainly heard of the East and West Side clubsbut from everything I've been told the rest of the sex clubs all closed in the 80s. before I arrived.

You've named a bunch of locations, but haven't named the venue. 

I am not expert but I have sniffed around for action more than once, and I've never heard of any additional bath houses. Not since the Continental (that's the 72/Bwy you mention) closed decades ago ( when I was a child ) The Flushing and Roosevelt locations may be indicating the Korean Spas, not gay saunas. As far as Times Square, and Harlem, I have no idea what you're referring to.

[Lazarus]

I’m pretty sure there was a bathhouse or something similar in Harlem at 124th & Madison or 5th  Ave years ago. I never went there but vaguely remember seeing it from the outside. 

[DWnyc]

16 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

You've named a bunch of locations, but haven't named the venue. 

I am not expert but I have sniffed around for action more than once, and I've never heard of any additional bath houses. Not since the Continental (that's the 72/Bwy you mention) closed decades ago ( when I was a child ) The Flushing and Roosevelt locations may be indicating the Korean Spas, not gay saunas. As far as Times Square, and Harlem, I have no idea what you're referring to.

Challenge accepted

Didn’t know the names of the venues but had a mental picture in my earlier post. 

Here are some random references from a quick internet search.

1. Wall Street Sauna

https://gaycitynews.com/wall-street-sauna-shuttered/

2. Mount Morris Baths (Harlem)

https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/19/nyregion/mount-morris-journal-a-gay-bathhouse-in-harlem-hey-it-s-no-secret.html

3. Northern Men’s Sauna (Flushing)

https://spartacus.gayguide.travel/saunas/northamerica/usa/newyork/nyc/12493_Northern Men's Sauna

4. El Mirage on East Houston

https://www.villagevoice.com/2005/11/29/ny-mirror-456/

Roosevelt Ave and Times Sq will need more research … a friend I asked about them after I was drawing a blank said the TSQ location was actually closer to Herald Square / west 30s. And the one I called Roosevelt Ave was actually on one of the large cross streets.

[AndyDandy]

On 2/7/2023 at 12:01 AM, Chidude said:

Are there strippers at this reportedly rundown bathhouse?  Why is this a thread in the Male Stripper category?

If you look back to the original post, I said I wasn't sure if this was "the appropriate place to ask this question...".  But, hey, thanks for policing the thread.  I hope no one else was offended by my question and the nice conversation that followed.

[JUWS]

On 2/8/2023 at 2:25 AM, DWnyc said:

Challenge accepted

Didn’t know the names of the venues but had a mental picture in my earlier post. 

Here are some random references from a quick internet search.

1. Wall Street Sauna

https://gaycitynews.com/wall-street-sauna-shuttered/

2. Mount Morris Baths (Harlem)

https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/19/nyregion/mount-morris-journal-a-gay-bathhouse-in-harlem-hey-it-s-no-secret.html

3. Northern Men’s Sauna (Flushing)

https://spartacus.gayguide.travel/saunas/northamerica/usa/newyork/nyc/12493_Northern Men's Sauna

4. El Mirage on East Houston

https://www.villagevoice.com/2005/11/29/ny-mirror-456/

Roosevelt Ave and Times Sq will need more research … a friend I asked about them after I was drawing a blank said the TSQ location was actually closer to Herald Square / west 30s. And the one I called Roosevelt Ave was actually on one of the large cross streets.

I remember all of those, haha! And maybe the TS closer to Herald Square that you mention was K-Town Sauna west 32nd I think?🤷‍♂️    And the Roosevelt Ave. I don't know. Thank god there's one I never went to 🤣🤭

Edited February 9, 2023 by JUWS

[Ganymede255]

Let’s not forget Man’s Country at 28 W. 15th St. in Manhattan. This multistory bathhouse had, among other things, a full size trailer truck on the premises.  Those were the days!!

Here’s a link that tells you more and includes a short promotional video.

http://www.back2stonewall.com/2020/05/mans-country-bathhouse-commercial.html

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by Ganymede255

[MscleLovr]

On 2/7/2023 at 6:08 AM, DWnyc said:

Bette milder used to sing there?

Yes I saw her perform there in the early/mid-70s. I went there with 3 friends (we were all in black tie) and it was quite a surreal experience, mingling with many near-naked men while she sang (rather well as I recall). 

On 2/7/2023 at 2:20 PM, pubic_assistance said:

the Continental (that's the 72/Bwy you mention)

You’re right…a small thing but its full name was the Continental Baths.

[JUWS]

6 hours ago, Ganymede255 said:

Let’s not forget Man’s Country at 28 W. 15th St. in Manhattan. This multistory bathhouse had, among other things, a full size trailer truck on the premises.  Those were the days!!

Here’s a link that tells you more and includes a short promotional video.

http://www.back2stonewall.com/2020/05/mans-country-bathhouse-commercial.html

 

That's right, and also not to forget St. Marks baths, didn't Bette also sing here?

Edited February 10, 2023 by JUWS

[DWnyc]

These were all gone by the time I first visited NY … hence my original point about people then referring to the old glory days. 

 

[MscleLovr]

2 hours ago, JUWS said:

not to forget St. Marks baths

Quite right @JUWS 

Tho Bette never sang there(at least, not to my knowledge), I had forgotten St Marks - in its heyday, it was hugely popular. I didn't use the Baths (as quick, anonymous sex never worked for me) but a nervous friend asked me to go with him - to my surprise, that evening I met separately 2 guys who also worked on Wall St then.

[DWnyc]

 

2 hours ago, MscleLovr said:

Quite right @JUWS 

Tho Bette never sang there(at least, not to my knowledge), I had forgotten St Marks - in its heyday, it was hugely popular. I didn't use the Baths (as quick, anonymous sex never worked for me) but a nervous friend asked me to go with him - to my surprise, that evening I met separately 2 guys who also worked on Wall St then.

I wonder if the one on Wall Street itself was a place to get deals done! 
 

 

[DWnyc]

On 2/9/2023 at 8:58 AM, JUWS said:

I remember all of those, haha! And maybe the TS closer to Herald Square that you mention was K-Town Sauna west 32nd I think?🤷‍♂️    And the Roosevelt Ave. I don't know. Thank god there's one I never went to 🤣🤭

Apparently the flushing and Roosevelt Ave ones were popular pit stops for cabin crew from JFK and La Guardia between shifts - without having to come all the way into Manhattan 

 

[foxy]

FThe Club Baths, in the East Village, 1st Avenue and 1st Street. It was part of a nationwide chain. It was almost luxurious. Almost. Probably closed around 1980.