Anyone remember The Vault?
This article is pretty interesting…
Sleaze be gone: Buildings that housed New York’s former sex clubs have cleaned up their act
A tourist from Berlin orders a ‘Shroom Burger from Shake Shack where gay men used to watch skin flicks and copulate.
A wealthy Manhattan resident parks his BMW in a space where 30 years ago swinging couples would bathe and trade partners.
A family of four visits a haunted house where men used to pleasure themselves in booths.
Such is the ever changing nature of New York City. A sex club one day, is a fancy restaurant the next. A city that was once a bastion of indecency has cleaned up its act in only three decades.
“Sex and sexuality were more a part of the urban landscape in the early 80s before everything became sanitized and Disney-ized and safe for tourists and wealthy residents,” says New York nightlife expert Michael Musto. “Starting with Guliani’s reign, the mayor made a concerted effort to crack down on anything that was too edgy or risque.”
First the gay leather clubs of the Meatpacking District disappeared, thanks in no small part to the HIV epidemic of the 80s, then the high class swinger clubs became extinct, and finally the peep shows of Times Square went out of business.