The crackdown continues: NYC shuts down another gay club

[Hawkman]

El Mirage, a gay sex club on NYC's lower East Side, has just sent out this email to its members:

"Dear Members, Wednesday night the New York City Task force, Health 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 participated 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."

Gotta keep the community clean, right? Gotta clamp down on those queers, right? Gotta uphold moral values, right? Gotta...

Remember, friends. When you visit the Big Apple, you never know what surprises are waiting for you. Just think: YOU might have been caught up that raid -- oh, I forgot, you don't go to such places.

 

[Theyoungman]

NYC = bad place to live and most of the time to visit, but of course what do I know. I've never been there...

 

[Orlandude]

For those of us that don't live there, it might be worthwhile to know "why" the crackdown? You describe it as a "raid". Was something going on there that violated the law or local ordinaces? Having visited New York many times (and the bars)I would think that the city was very tolerant of the gay community....much more so than many other cities. We've had a few bars (gay and straight) raided and closed here over the years, some being closed for good. But when the real story came out, the bars that were shut down were havens for drugs, selling alcohol to minors and/or in violation of health laws or in such horrible physical condition that the property was condemned as "unsafe".

Just curious if the "raid" was justified or a result of harrassment/intolerance.

 

[gefsmith]

Wow that freeks me out that NYC of all cities and you cant have a gay sex club.

Shit even my ex-hick town has a couple of saunas and a bunch of cruise clubs...

Man I much preferd NYC pre Guilani

G

 

[lukylok]

Though I was never lucky enough to go there, the NY people seem to have forgotten "The Mineshaft".

It seems strange that the law would have the power to close a sex club, unless there is drugs or underage activities.

Even stranger that some gays should condone the fact.


Where is the so talked about freedom ?

 

[Hawkman]

For those of us that don't live there, it might be worthwhile to know "why" the crackdown? You describe it as a "raid". Was something going on there that violated the law or local ordinaces? Having visited New York many times (and the bars)I would think that the city was very tolerant of the gay community....much more so than many other cities. We've had a few bars (gay and straight) raided and closed here over the years, some being closed for good. But when the real story came out, the bars that were shut down were havens for drugs, selling alcohol to minors and/or in violation of health laws or in such horrible physical condition that the property was condemned as "unsafe".

Just curious if the "raid" was justified or a result of harrassment/intolerance.

Good questions. I've been to El Mirage, and here's what I know: It was a medium-size space that required you to become a member by showing legit ID (driver license or passport) and checked you out each time you went there, taking pains to make sure you weren't carrying anything inappropriate and that you weren't a cop -- apparently that didn't work! Inside, you had to check all your clothes except briefs/jockstrap or a T-shirt (not both). Lube and condoms were provided. Soft drinks were available. No alcohol or drugs were permitted, and though I obviously can't be sure, I never noticed any alcohol or drugs.

What caused the raid had to be the sex. All kinds of gay sex took place there -- one-on-one and in groups -- while others stood around watching. Sometimes there wasn't much action, but at other times it could get pretty orgiastic. Protection (condoms) was entirely up to the participants, and I did see a fair amount of barebacking.

Sleazy? Very. That's why I did practically nothing there. (See how saintly I am?)

But did the club deserve to be shut down? I have to admit that, from a public health standpoint, it probably did. What bothers me is that this is the latest in a series of shutdowns and other harassing actions that NYC authorities have taken toward gay places over the past few years.

If New York has a reputation as gay-friendly, it is largely deserved. As far as private acts are concerned, you can do whatever you want in your apartment or hotel room. And the city has more than its share of gay-owned, gay-friendly businesses, especially in neighborhoods like the West Village and Chelsea, where lots of rainbow flags are flying, and it is a common sight to see guys walking down the street hand-in-hand.

Nevertheless, this is not the first "gay sex club" to be shut down, and I always find something ominous in these raids. Recently, the city has also shut down a couple of gay bars because they featured nude dancers or catered to hustlers.

I guess it depends on your attitude toward complete or limited freedom, and the ability of individuals to assess dangers and make their own choices.

 

[Paws]

I also hear that very often the clubs are owned/run by the mafia.

The gay mafia

 

[RicanDAB]

I am from NYC and never heard of El Mirage ... it's obviously a club were my interests did not lie. If this place was a sex club and conributing to serious health risks and rampant drug use, then it deserved to be closed. NYC is not out to close down gay establishments just because they are gay, else there would be no gay bars or clubs. NYC closes these sex clubs with almost the same motives that the city closes down a restaurant when it has vermin infestation or spoiled food - it is to protect the public - and there is nothing wrong with that. If guys want to continue participating in this type of behavior, it should be done in a private forum in the down-low underground scene (as sooo many already do) outside of city regulation.

If El Mirage was closed due to dangerous activities, what about all those other so-called "gyms" like the East Side Club where the real focus is on the backrooms, steam rooms and all the action that goes on there? I assume since these are outside of the gay neighborhoods and discreetly in more affluent areas (Upper East Side) they tend to follow the rules on a thinner and more acceptable line.

 

[slobone]

I doubt very much that the shutdown had to do with the fact that it was a gay club. I suspect NYC is just going through one of its periodic binges of puritanism about public sex. Presumably the straight whorehouses etc. are being cracked down on as well.

Guiliani, who likes to get credit for the sharp drop in crime, had a policy of "strict code enforcement" which meant getting the hookers and panhandlers off the street. This is just more of the same. They're very sensitive about New York having a reputation as a place where sex is rampant, under the theory that that keeps tourists away. Las Vegas, interestingly, has taken exactly the opposite tack to attract tourists.

 

[Croynan]

Well one more sterotype is struck down - why does this incident not bother me or have any meaning to me? Is it becasuse it happened 3000 miles away or is it the fact that i never had a chance to go there and make a complete ass of myself in such a social situation?

Call if "sour grapes" if you want and or "old stick in the mud" but if this is the least that homosexuals have to worry about, then their day is made.

Public fornication even in a fornication establishment does little for the homosexual image and i seriously doubt many great love affairs were born as a result of visiting this "scenic landmark of the homosexual life style" so rampant in New York.

Throw a party, invite 30-40 over sexed homsoexuals with all sizes and style of *****and live out all your sexual fantasies you want with as many people as you want doing as many things as you and they want. Truly enjoy the Camaraderie and the barebacking and the meth and the other joys of the homosexual sexual revolution and entertainment enviornment. After all are we not all just a bunch of horny, sex, craved individuals any ways with not moral values and or attitudes.

A sex club has hit the dirt. Woe is me. The sky is falling. Humpty Dumpty Had a Big Fall. Big fucking deal.

O.K. what is the next major bastion of homosexual freedoms to fall that we can mourn and cry about? At least they could have raided the place when it was full of 100's of erections walking around searching for one another and they would have all had to go outside to get some fresh air and find their clothes - but instead a lock was put on the door and another great monument in the history of homosexuals's 'fucking culture' has been eleminated.

Someone please get me my teddy bear, please.?

a rambling useless commentary by the idiotic local village idiot who if forced to step into a sex club would turn all shades of colours and run for the doors - what can I do, i am a very shy person? truth be told.

eM.

the line for chastising me forms to the >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[teh_nathan]

Yeah, from reading all of the above, I really don't see the big deal here.

If they absolutely insisted on protection, as a mandatory thing (or you won't be allowed in), they wouldn't have been shut down. They didn't and they deserve what they got. It's not about discrimination, it's about public health.

I agree with Croynan..

 

[cocktales]

Well, like most JUBBERS, I am ALL for Freedom's of Speech, public expression, etc; but do NOT condone "bare-backing" in this time of HIV/AIDS!

Since this is a "private" club.........it seems that something "shady" might be going on in there......

I think a club that's run with rules that protect the patrons, then that's where we need to be concerned: NO condom - NO sex!

 

[cocktales]

PS: From my post above....^^^^:

It seems that perhaps there are some issues and concerns about the private sex clubs. Please read this:

http://webferret.search.com/click?w...baths-become-sex-clubs-resort.html,,altavista

 

[lukylok]

Amazing to see a majority of politically correct and reactionnaries on JUB.

I would have thought that gays would have been more sensitive to freedom.
As long as it is between consenting adults, no minor involved, why do you have to interfere ?

Not speaking for myself, I am past the age, and shape, of frequenting those clubs.

My freedom stops where yours begins, and vice-versa.


I don't dare to imagine what you think about divorce, abortion, gay marriage (wrong word but let's say union), adoption, euthanasy.....


What an interesting world !

 

[teh_nathan]

Regardless if it's between consenting adults, if there's even the slightest possibility that protection isn't being used nor insisted upon, 'freedom' isn't an issue, public health is.

Don't be so quick to scream persecution - if even a few people in that sex club were knowingly spreading AIDS/HIV (which could have been the case, you don't know that), the place needed to be shut down.

It's nothing to do with who's politically correct or not. If there's a possibility of this happening, it's a public safety and health issue as I've said.

Believe me, I'm all for people's freedoms to do whatever they want behind closed doors (just as much as the next person is)..it's not an issue of privacy being infringed upon and if you think about it, you'll agree.