[VALLEJO, Boris]. The New St. Marks Baths.

ON HOLD

[VALLEJO, Boris]. The New St. Marks Baths.
[New York or Cleveland: Np, but possibly Official Graphic Arts International Union, ca. 1980]

Handbill (140 x 89 mm). Offset, recto only. Minor rubbing.

An original handbill for the newly reopened New St. Marks Baths. First opened in 1913, the St. Marks Baths originally served the Russian-Jewish immigrants of the Lower East Side; by the 1960s, it was entirely a gay bathhouse, but had fallen into disrepair and gained an unsanitary reputation. In 1971, Bruce Mailman purchased the building and extensively renovated and modernized the baths, appended the “New” to its name, and opened its doors in 1979. 

Vallejo painted “Mysterious Rider” around 1978, and the image was co-opted to use in advertisements for the newly refurbished Baths, both on large posters and handbills such as these. Upon opening, the New St. Marks Baths exploded in popularity, becoming a central gay refuge in New York City during the early ‘80s. As the AIDS crisis grew, Mailman resisted pressure to close the Baths, feeling that they were necessary communal centers and essential for safe-sex education; refusing to close, the bathhouse instead distributed protection, literature on sexual health, and requiring patrons to sign safe-sex pledges. Ultimately, it would close its doors on December 7, 1985, when the city forced the closure of all bathhouses in order to combat the epidemic.

The building, located at 6 St. Marks Place, would sit vacant until it was rented by Mondo Kim’s in 1994 — itself now another legend.

A rare survival of pre-AIDS gay bathhouse material culture in New York City.

PROVENANCE: Ira Silverberg

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