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.

The New St. Marks Baths
Site of the bathhouse in 2009 (left), after being extensively renovated for retail use
Former namesThe Saint Marks Baths
General information
TypeGay bathhouse
LocationManhattan, New York City, New York
Address6 St. Marks Place
CountryUnited States
Coordinates40°43′45″N 73°59′22″W
Opened1913 (1913)
Renovated1979
ClosedDecember 9, 1985 (1985-12-09)
OwnerBruce Mailman
Other information
Facilitiesprivate 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.. 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 who entered, the New St. Mark's Baths was shuttered permanently on December 7, 1985. [4]

Currently known as the Russian & Turkish Baths, the sauna caters to downtown Manhattan residents, Orthodox Jews, and Russian-Jewish immigrants. The kitchen in the lobby serves Russian-Jewish cuisine.[5]

References
  1. Leap, William (1999). Public sex gay space. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10691-2.
  2. Moore, Patrick (2004). Beyond shame: reclaiming the abandoned history of radical gay sexuality. Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-7956-1.
  3. "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.
  4. Purnick, Joyce (December 7, 1985). "City Shuts a Bathhouse as Site of 'Unsafe Sex'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  5. "After 124 Years, the Russian and Turkish Baths Are Still a Hot Spot". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
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