The Steam Room At NYSC

steve

One of the reasons I joined NYSC was for the steam room, but a couple of guys trying to get it on in there tonight kind of ruined that for me. A friend of mine had a similar experience and dumped the place.

I didn't mention it to the management but I did mention it to someone who works there, and he said there wasn't much they could do but tell the manager, and he apologized, which was cool, but unnecessary.

Anyway, that's my story, I'm putting it here to see what ya'll say. Personally whatever the reasons I don't think there is any excuse for doing jack in there besides steaming. It's beyond rude.

idlewild

Dare I ask what they were doing?

drano

Edited because "someone" was at my desk and decided to make a little post on my behalf. Apologies for the graphic descrptions therein. But anyhow, I had him over here to show him this because he claims it happens all the time at his club. I'm a little more inclined to believe him now.

Anyway, bad freakin' form any way you cut it. I'd probably tell them to knock it off, but who knows - maybe I'd be too surprised and just bail.

kosherdave

Wow, I just joined this club. I was there last night (not in the steam room, did not know they had one actually). Now, I have no problem with people doin' there thing, regardless of what their preferences are. But I have to agree, the NYSC steam room or sauna is not the place for it! I was told they closed the steam room in the Chelsea NYSC becuase of this same problem. If they close the PS on, then I'll be REALLY PISSED off!

anonymous

I remember reading an article about this in the Times.

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Locker Room Trysts Bedevil Health Clubs
By CAROL E. LEE (NYT) 1284 words
Published: June 16, 2005

A FEW months ago Timothy Young, a comedian and puppeteer, headed to the steam room of a Y.M.C.A. in Brooklyn to relax after working out. When he opened the door, he saw two men kissing and fondling each other. ''Go ahead, I don't care,'' Mr. Young, 31, told them.
But he did leave the room.


Not all gymgoers are blasé when they stumble upon locker-room canoodling. ''They're infringing on my right to work out at the gym without having to deal with that nonsense,'' said Cyd Zeigler Jr., a member of David Barton Gym and a co-founder of Outsports.com, an online magazine for gay sports fans and athletes. ''I don't get the full benefit of my membership.''

Men cruising men in the locker room is a near-century old pursuit. And the steam rooms, showers and saunas at health clubs continue to be meeting places for men seeking anonymous sexual activity, much as bathhouses in New York and other cities were before fear of AIDS prompted a widespread shutdown in the 1980's.

''It has always been there, and it has its ups and downs,'' Charles Kaiser, the author of the 1997 book ''The Gay Metropolis,'' said of sexual behavior in locker rooms. ''People complain, and they shut things down, and then it creeps back up again.''

Just how much sex occurs in gym locker rooms -- and whether it's more prevalent today than in the past -- is difficult to gauge. Gyms are reluctant to say how many complaints they get from members, and the New York City Health Department, which has the authority to close the saunas and steam rooms of health clubs that fail to crack down on sexual activity, rarely hears from gymgoers.

Of course most of those who engage in furtive sexual behavior are savvy about not getting caught.

Gyms are everywhere: the number nationwide has more than doubled in the past decade to about 26,000, according to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, a trade group. And at certain times of day, their showers and steam rooms are not crowded. A closed door -- or the fog of steam -- make it easy for men engaging in sexual activity to elude detection.

''No one can really see anything,'' said Jonathan, a 43-year-old sales representative from Manhattan who gave only his first name. He said he regularly goes to an uptown New York Sports Club for ''work and reward'': a cardio workout, some weight lifting, then sexual activity in the sauna or steam room.

To some members, such behavior is offensive and detracts from their enjoyment of the gym.

Last month, Carlos Sosa, 34, a restaurant manager in Manhattan, filed a $25,000 lawsuit against David Barton Gym on West 23rd Street. (The gym has officially denied any wrongdoing.) Four months into his membership he complained about sexual behavior in the locker room, he said, but the establishment refused to let him out of his contract and refund his $950 annual fee.

Mr. Sosa, who accuses the gym of allowing sexual activity to flourish in the men's locker room, said that on one afternoon in mid-November 2004 he went to the shower and saw that two men in adjacent showers had slid their hands through a gap between their stalls. ''One was masturbating the other,'' Mr. Sosa said.

Tom Shanahan, a lawyer for David Barton Gym said: ''What he's alleging happens everywhere. It's how you deal with it, and we try and deal with it.''

MOST clubs, including David Barton, Equinox, and the Y.M.C.A., have zero-tolerance policies. ''If you're caught,'' Mr. Shanahan said, ''then you're out.''

Equinox revoked memberships a ''handful'' of times in the past year, according to Scott Rosen, the chief operating officer. At Reebok Sports Club/NY, Brad Zeifman, the club's spokesman, said that ''less than a handful'' of memberships have been revoked in the past year because of ''inappropriate behavior,'' which includes using profanity and getting into arguments as well as improprieties in the locker room and spa areas.

Gyms in New York, which are required by law to enforce the state sanitary code against sex on their premises, often post signs notifying exercisers that ''inappropriate behavior'' is not permitted. While few, if any, establishments have employees patrol the locker rooms to police sexual activity, most have staff members check in from time to time so they can, among other things, alert management if they see forbidden behavior.

But despite these efforts, men continue to arrange rendezvous at gyms with willing partners, often via the Internet.

''Looking for a little relief during your day? Meet me at Lunch at the NYSC Sauna and lets have some fun,'' a June 8 personal ad on craigslist.com said. Other postings are more explicit: ''We were alone in the steam room Monday night. We fooled around a bit and you said you were 26 as well. Would love to meet up again.'' Some of the postings -- like ''married looking for discrete hot sex at my gym'' -- suggest that men who identify themselves as gay are not the only ones who participate.

If people who stumble upon a couple in flagrante delicto were to complain to New York City's Health Department, a club's saunas and steam rooms might be shut down. But only two or three complaints a year are received, said Sid Dinsay, a spokesman for the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

''If we don't know if something is going on,'' said Dr. Isaac Weisfuse, a deputy commissioner of the department's Division of Disease Control, ''there's nothing we can do about it.''

A lot of the sexual activity in gym locker rooms, according to witnesses and health experts, may not be the unprotected anal sex that led officials to disband bathhouses in the 80's -- and sex clubs in the 90's -- but if it were reported to the Health Department, Dr. Weisfuse said, it still would raise enough concern for the department to investigate.

But most aggrieved members complain only to gym management. Some gyms will shut down their locker room amenities while they investigate a complaint, but eventually they reopen them.

''We have closed the saunas and steam rooms at certain times,'' said Susan Gerson, a spokeswoman for Town Sports International, which runs New York Sports Clubs.

In response to complaints last year about sexual activity in the men's steam room, sauna, shower and Jacuzzi areas, Reebok Sports Club/NY sent undercover personnel to investigate, a measure it also randomly takes, according to Mr. Zeifman. The club has not discovered sexual behavior in its locker room areas since last summer.

Whether their clients are annoyed or unfazed when sex disrupts a visit to their club, gyms are obligated to crack down on it. For them, sex in locker rooms is no laughing matter. But Mr. Young, the comedian, isn't above joking about the situation. He incorporated sex at the gym into his stand-up routine.

''Oh, yes, these steam rooms are wonderful,'' his puppet Oglesby boasted in a Manhattan bar a few months ago. ''I even hear they have a workout room upstairs.''




Photos: STEAMY? -- Some gymgoers say they seek after-workout sex in showers, saunas and steam rooms, but others find the activity offensive and intrusive. One gymgoer has even filed a lawsuit. (Photo by Christopher Smith for The New York Times)

kosherdave

If anything, they should either:

a) monitor the rooms on occasion, kicking people out for getting it on.

b) make a co-ed make-out sauna, so if nothing else, we can ALL have a good time, gay, straight or otherwise!

I mean, if they're gonna look the other way, then I think I should be able to benefit too! I pay the same amount as the men-on-men for my gym membership! And my girlfriend is a member of NYSC!

(please take this as tongue in cheek)

(pun intended)

paullarosa

NYSC is notorious for this. If you ever read the CL Missed Connections for Brooklyn, you'll see postings a few times a month saying "we hooked up in the sauna at NYSC" or something similar.

A gym is a gym. You wanna fuck somebody (gay or straight), go someplace private or at least not where you're inconveniencing people who pay for a gym membership that includes a sauna.

Personally, I'd keep complaining to the owner and if I saw it happening, I'd drag a manager down there while it's going on. They should be kicked out (people wanna kiss, that's one thing, but if you're getting sexual in a sauna, I think you should lose your membership). All else fails, cancel and tell them exactly why you are doing so.

quijibo

same crap happens at my gym, NYH&RC on 50th + 5th ave
this 50 something guy, wearing green shorts and shirt EVERY day
would spend 5 minutes on the treadmill, 5 minutes lifting weights
and then promptly run to the showers, hang around for 1 hour or more
just drying himself and cruising naked through the locker room and sauna

first time i noticed it, i notified the manager, he acted surprised
which was b.s. -- he was just trying to appease me and said
that the attendant would keep an eye on the guy

the same guy still goes and does his routine regularly

8thandprez

This kind of thing has been happening throughout the entire history of public baths. There is a well-defined protocol for when and how this kind of thing happens and people should not be doing anything if there are people present who are not into it.

I think it's pretty funny that flexichick thinks kissing in the sauna is ok, but anything more is out of line.

8thandprez

I forgot to mention that I used to belong to NYSC and would go the Park Slope and Wall St branches and that the Park Slope NYSC steam room was closed for some time because of 'illicit activity.' Eventually NYSC got to be too gross -- even for a gay man -- and I switched to Equinox.

prusik

8thandPrez wrote: I forgot to mention that I used to belong to NYSC and would go the Park Slope and Wall St branches and that the Park Slope NYSC steam room was closed for some time because of 'illicit activity.' Eventually NYSC got to be too gross -- even for a gay man -- and I switched to Equinox.

Hey - I was going to write that too ('cept now I belong to Crunch on B'way). I don't ever remember the steam room in PS being open.

If this kind of stuff is going on in there I think I'd be very careful about where I sat... :shock:

benny_b

Hey - I wouldn't kiss in the sauna either. I guess I meant a quick kiss......like if you see 2 people sharing a kiss, and you run to the manager, you're being an ass......I don't think making out with anybody in a sauna is appropriate. I think I was just imagining 2 guys kissing and a homophobic person running to get management.

I dunno. I'm tired and not thinking straight. My car overheated on the NJ Tpke yesterday and a 2 hour trip turned into 8 hours. In 90+ degree heat. With 2 cats. Through torrential thunderstorms. Plus $100 in towing and not even knowing what's wrong with the car yet.

Back to bed for me.

livetotravel

the mere thought of anything to do with the NJ Trnpk is sending me to bed (but by myself and not in the sauna).

wexlerglazer

I may be gay, but I don't believe there to be any ties between myself and the type of men who feel compelled to intrude so much into others' comfort zones inside a public space. Yuck.

steve

Idlewild wrote: Dare I ask what they were doing?

At first, I just took a glance to my right and I thought one guy had his hand on the other guys ass, but I wasn't sure. I left a minute or two later. I walked by a minute or two after that, and clearly saw (the room wasn't steamy) one guy either sucking the other off, or moving in to suck him off.

steve

8thandPrez wrote: This kind of thing has been happening throughout the entire history of public baths. There is a well-defined protocol for when and how this kind of thing happens and people should not be doing anything if there are people present who are not into it.

I think it's pretty funny that flexichick thinks kissing in the sauna is ok, but anything more is out of line.

You have to draw the line at zero physical contact because it is the only easy place to draw it, and is fair for all.

steve

wexlerglazer wrote: I may be gay, but I don't believe there to be any ties between myself and the type of men who feel compelled to intrude so much into others' comfort zones inside a public space. Yuck.

Do you think that things like this contribute to intolerance and homophobia?

quijibo

steve wrote: [quote=Idlewild]Dare I ask what they were doing?

At first, I just took a glance to my right and I thought one guy had his hand on the other guys ass, but I wasn't sure. I left a minute or two later. I walked by a minute or two after that, and clearly saw (the room wasn't steamy) one guy either sucking the other off, or moving in to suck him off.
maybe you were being a tease :shock:
how long did look?`

carnivore

A closed circuit camera with a monitor in front of the tread mills would probably end most of that kind of activity (although it might actually encourage a few people, they could then be easily identified and expelled from the club). Unless they have the manpower to patrol, I don't know how else they could really stop stuff like that from happening.

8thandprez

sounds like a recipe for getting gays out of the club. maybe we can just agree to live separately from one another and call it a day.

carnivore

8thandPrez wrote: sounds like a recipe for getting gays out of the club. maybe we can just agree to live separately from one another and call it a day.

Would stopping people from breaking the rules in the steam room really make gay people leave the club?

quijibo

Carnivore wrote: [quote=8thandPrez]sounds like a recipe for getting gays out of the club. maybe we can just agree to live separately from one another and call it a day.

Would stopping people from breaking the rules in the steam room really make gay people leave the club?
i think it's the sales managers. who don't want to lose a single membership
so they let it slide

is there a female version of this sauna room guy? :shock:

withachaser

quijibo wrote: [quote=Carnivore][quote=8thandPrez]sounds like a recipe for getting gays out of the club. maybe we can just agree to live separately from one another and call it a day.

Would stopping people from breaking the rules in the steam room really make gay people leave the club?
i think it's the sales managers. who don't want to lose a single membership
so they let it slide
is there a female version of this sauna room guy? :shock:

i've SO been waiting for someone to broche this topic. the answer?...nope. not in my experience. and i've frequented quite a variety of gyms. well..maybe once i was privy to that type of lockeroom behavior...but that was in the eighties. seems a furtive glance is all we lesbians can hope for at the gym. :oops:

captain salty

unless it's me, i don't want to see anybody having sex in public, whether they are gay, lesbian, or straight.

brooklynpotter

i don't know, maybe it's me--and the fact that all of the men i date turn out to be closeted... but y'all knew that so i'll move on--but i always get a red flag when i hear about men who want to get a good schvitz (that's steam, for those of you who don't know yiddish).

maybe it's the whole coming of age in the early 80s thing, when thinking of steamrooms and bath-houses automatically makes me think "aids" and makes me wonder why a hetero would go.

(not meaning anything bad to gay men. love gay men. but if you were in nyc during the reagan years you may have the same visceral reaction.)

anonymous

Inconsiderate jerks are born both gay and straight. Additionally, unappealing things happen in many gyms, inside the locker room and out. Plenty of straight couples, have sprawled out close to me on yoga mats and exchanged open mouth kisses at The Slope Fitness Center. Sweaty couples -- straight or gay -- making out less than a 12 inches away from my sweaty body in such a tight space are inconsiderate "personal bubble trespassers" (jerks who pop into the invisible bubbles we all wear to prevent others from getting in our faces). What's worse, is the occasional straight male personal trainer who passionately massages his attractive female clients in public areas. Some of the straight male personal trainers seem to be receiving more pleasure from massaging their attractive female clients then their female clients themselves. I'd like to see these straight male personal trainers give the same type of massage to a 50 year old man.

anonymous

Captain Salty wrote: unless it's me, i don't want to see anybody having sex in public, whether they are gay, lesbian, or straight.

Agreed!

sewster

Agreed. I don't want to see most people making out and groping each other either. Unless they're hot

quijibo

yea. like if it was lindsay lohan and paris hilton having a naked
catfight in the gym sauna. that'd be aight

but otherwise respect yo! :shock:

brightside

ewww....Firecrotch and the walking wonky-eyed, no talent chick? Why, why, why, why, why? :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

trixienyc

speaking on behalf of the gays (as I am one thanks for asking) I don't want to see anyone hooking up....that's gay/straight/bi/transgendered....heck, I have a hard enough time watching my dog get it on with the pillow.

it's funny how a majority of the converstations are about the gay boys getting in on in the sauna/locker rooms and that makes us itchy, but, um, yea, someone else mentioned here earlier about hetero massage action going on at the gym....that's all out in the open, makes me even MORE itchy.
do not condone boys getting it on in the sauna. do not condone the cheap thrill of an afternoon hetero massage. makes. me. itchy.