They\u2019re bringing back true hookup \u201chotspots.\u201d<\/p>\n
A steamy new proposal would legalize sex in saunas and bathhouses citywide \u2014\u00a0repealing a 1980s law that blamed the wet-and-wild romps for spreading AIDS<\/a> among gay folks.<\/p>\n State Sen. Erik Bottcher and Assemblymember Tony Simone, who represent Manhattan\u2019s LGBT- friendly West Side, said it was time to replace the dusty old ban on \u201cadult-saunas.\u201d<\/p>\n Tony Simone, left, and Erik Bottcher attend the Hudson River Park Friends 10th Annual Playground Committee Luncheon at Tribeca 360 in New York City on March 6, 2026. Getty Images for Friends of Hudson River Park<\/p>\n People pass by the St. Mark\u2019s Baths on St. Mark\u2019s St. in Greenwich Village on Jan. 6, 1986, in New York. ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n \u201cWe should bring it out\u00a0of the shadows,\u201d\u00a0Simone said during an interview Wednesday, arguing bathhouses would be healthier and safer if they were regulated.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was part of gay culture. These people are adults. Sex is consensual,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The current law states, \u201cNo establishment shall make facilities available for the purpose of sexual activities where anal intercourse, vaginal intercourse or fellatio take place. Such facilities shall constitute a threat to the public health.\u201d<\/p>\n But the new legislation to repeal it recognizes that saunas have served for decades as important gathering places for gay folks \u2014 before they were shuttered during the height of the HIV\/AIDS epidemic to curb infections and deaths.<\/p>\n \u201cThe year is 2026, not 1986: evidence-based practices informed by the past 30 years of public health research make it clear we should repeal the ban on adult-use bathhouses and saunas,\u201d Simone said in a statement announcing the bill.<\/p>\n An LGBTQ+ flag is brought to the flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument on Christopher Street in Lower Manhattan on Feb. 12, 2026. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cQueer New Yorkers are being forced into the shadows \u2026 we all know these places exist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Indeed, several spas and bathhouses in the Big Apple are already rumored hotbeds for sex \u2014\u00a0with reports of public hookups at Spa Castle<\/a> in Queens and the East Side Club, a 24-hour sauna in Midtown.<\/p>\n Veteran LGBT activist Allen Roskoff, who lost loved ones to AIDS, said the ban on bathhouses was a divisive issue in the gay community in the 1980s, with many gays for and against the shutdown.<\/p>\n But said it\u2019s time for bathhouses to return.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York\u2019s bathhouses were an integral part of gay life for decades,\u201d said Roskoff, president of the Jim Owles Liberal LGBT Democratic Club.<\/p>\n Assemblyman Tony Simone speaks to the media and supporters rallying for the bar \u201cJimmy\u2019s Corner\u201d to stay open on Friday, April 10, 2026, on 44th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. Brigitte Stelzer<\/p>\n He said the bathhouses were places to socialize and have sex, but they were more than that.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were symbols of our community, our culture, and our fight for civil rights and sexual liberation. I spent much of my youth in them,\u201d Roskoff said.<\/p>\n He said political leaders campaigned in the establishments and entertainers including Bette Midler and Barry Manilow performed there.<\/p>\n NYS Senator Erik Bottcher attends the \u201cPatients Before Politics: Protect Trans Lives\u201d rally in Washington Square Park in Manhattan on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n Roskoff argued that they were tourist attractions, with gays from across the globe frequenting bathhouses.<\/p>\n \u201cGay men traveled from around the world to experience this uniquely New York institution. It\u2019s time to shake off the fear and stigma of the past and let them reopen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n