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Lucky

Brazil Saunas: Their Days Are Numbered

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Of course every young boy that undresses for gay man is after money, the dancers would do business for sure, but was not a place that would attracti hustlers looking for customers, first of all cause the admission was pretty steep ($25.00 ten years ago) and alcohol was not allowed or served. The buffy type were a minority, twinks and jocks were the norm, the nights they had 14 boys only one or two were non-whites, the business ended cause the Howard Johnson building was sold. I enjoy the boys at Rio and São Paulo but I think they cannot hold a candle for Gaiety top talent, maybe a questionar of taste. 

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2 hours ago, Gotti said:

....After their act the boys would go to adjoining foyer, dressed, to interact with the customers, that could take them to a hotel nearby, nothing happened inside the Gaiety premisses, the vast majority were White and undet 25. They stayed in business for 35 years and surprisingly were not closed by Giuliani, like all hustle bar, but he imposed a draconian zoning restriction that the only other options was to go to the West Side Highway, not a good spot for a night venue, unless you cater to truck drivers. Denise realized a diferent New York had arrived so she just let it go. The woman made history, nobody that was in NYC during this long períod will ever forget, every one will remember certain boys for life knowing they will never have a chance to see something similar again. Don't even think about Rio, São Paulo or whatever. Gaiety was the greatest place!

Gotti,  don't know what year you started going there, but they definitely did have sex with clients between their sets(usually about 2-1/2 hours between their individual sets) in the dressing rooms behind the stage!  this went on from at least '85 maybe earlier to the early 90's!  it stopped sometime in the early mid 90's I believe!  then the guys would take you back to their hotel rooms, fortunately they were a number of inexpensive hotels within a block or two of the theater.  the first guy I went back to his apartment with from the Gaiety was a Brazilian who lived on 48th and 8th, so we would hurry the two blocks to his apt, which he shared with another Brazilian and an hour later we would be back at the theater!  it was great!

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In the ealy eighties there were cabins in the back, but mid+ eighties it was over by mayor Kock trying to curb the AIDS epidemic I'm pretty sure it did not get to the nineties,even then only the dancers and his clients were allowed to use the cabins,a hustler could not walk from the Street and do his trade it ended at the same time of St Marks baths and all other major saunas, along some notorious back room like The Anvil and Candle Bar uptown. mid eighties was the first major shock in repression in NYC Mayor Koch did it and maybe he had to. 

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My first visit to the Gaiety was in 1983. I was amazed. It didn't take long before I hired someone. Prices were under$100 in those days. I think the most shocking thing that happened there for me was turning down Joey Stefano. I once lusted after him, but when he tried to entice me there he was so stoned I knew it wouldn't be fun.

Stella's was a masterful people watching place. You could sit back and see all of the subtle signs of cruising, yet ostensibly guys were just drinking and playing pool. Some really hot Latinos there.

 

I met Tomcal at Stella's years ago. He first tried to take my seat, then he tried to take my virginity! (Believe the second part at your own risk!)

0275951863.jpg

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8 hours ago, Gotti said:

Of course every young boy that undresses for gay man is after money, the dancers would do business for sure, but was not a place that would attracti hustlers looking for customers, first of all cause the admission was pretty steep ($25.00 ten years ago) and alcohol was not allowed or served. The buffy type were a minority, twinks and jocks were the norm, the nights they had 14 boys only one or two were non-whites, the business ended cause the Howard Johnson building was sold. I enjoy the boys at Rio and São Paulo but I think they cannot hold a candle for Gaiety top talent, maybe a questionar of taste. 

Of course there was sex going on in the back! It just stopped in later years, however. Also, the Howard Johnson building was sold just like the building that housed The Shoe Pslsce and the building that housed Cats were sold. They were politically targeted for sale as part of the Times Square renovation and rezoning of adult businesses. Finally, yes there were a handful of muscular guys with the twinkier ones, but it was always a variety. You re right about one thing: the guys were mostly to almost exclusively white (which was annoyingly unrepresentative or the diversity of New York City). But if you prefer white bread, that's not something that would ping your radar.

i suppose you take issue with the term "hustler", as you find it demeaning or referring only to street guys or perhaps only men of color? I use the term to be all-encompassing, to include men who are tricking for dollars, no matter the venue. That included your beloved $15 (I don't know where you got $25 entry fee from) The Gaiety.

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45 minutes ago, Lucky said:

My first visit to the Gaiety was in 1983. I was amazed. It didn't take long before I hired someone. Prices were under$100 in those days. I think the most shocking thing that happened there for me was turning down Joey Stefano. I once lusted after him, but when he tried to entice me there he was so stoned I knew it wouldn't be fun.

Stella's was a masterful people watching place. You could sit back and see all of the subtle signs of cruising, yet ostensibly guys were just drinking and playing pool. Some really hot Latinos there.

 

I met Tomcal at Stella's years ago. He first tried to take my seat, then he tried to take my virginity! (Believe the second part at your own risk!)

0275951863.jpg

Thanks for posting that book. I will purchase it on Amazon or eBay. It looks like a great historical read.

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You certainly didn't go till the very end, yep 25 bucks. Since the guys were dancing on stage, I call them "dancers", every pretty boi is a hustler in potential, there were more whites cause they got a lot mors tips than the non-whites ones. 

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38 minutes ago, Gotti said:

You certainly didn't go till the very end, yep 25 bucks. Since the guys were dancing on stage, I call them "dancers", every pretty boi is a hustler in potential, there were more whites cause they got a lot mors tips than the non-whites ones. 

I will gladly take ownership that I didn't go to The Gaiety at its bitter end. Its increasingly sterile environment bored me in its last few years. But the reason why the dancers / hustlers there were mostly white had far more to do with the tastes of its overwhelmingly white clients and the management, and not who would potentially get more tips. Please don't misattribute your personal racial or ethnic preferences to some mislabeled standard of quality. Just acknowledge that you prefer white guys and move on. Don't make rationalizations. It's a bit patronizing and insulting.

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6 minutes ago, Gotti said:

Why is insulting preferir White guys and not insulting to prefer other races?

Thats not well explained, also doesnt mean that I don't have a ball with hot Latin boys in Rio! Often go back and always will.  

You misunderstood me. That's not the insulting part. What is patronizing and insulting to someone's intelligence, however, is not to admit the preference, but instead to falsely state that the reason there would be an abundance of white guys at the Gaiety was because they got tipped more, so the other kinds of guys just didn't show up.

I hope you can discern the difference.

In any event, The Gaiety, Rounds, Stella's,  Show Palace and Cats are dead and gone. Long live 117, Lagoa, Meio Mundo, Fragata and the rest.

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My favorite at the Gaiety was Anthony, also known as Chico, a Latino from San Diego. He danced his heart out, believing that the customers deserved his best. And, as is now famously said, "believe me" he gave just as good in bed. He usually came into town with Tino Lopez, another Latino, who actually had to ask me if he was ever going to get a chance with me since I hired Anthony so often. I did hire Tino, but once was enough.

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On 10/23/2016 at 8:09 AM, Lucky said:

 

This has verred off topic...but i don't mind going down memory lane!  Lucky I remember the muscular Brazilian guy who had the complete anatomically correct Skeletal system tatooed on his backside from neck to heels! I went to with his cousin several times to their apartment in the first year ot two i went to the Gaiety in '96

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21 minutes ago, Tomcal said:

This has verred off topic...but i don't mind going down memory lane!  Lucky I remember the muscular Brazilian guy who had the complete anatomically correct Skeletal system tatooed on his backside from neck to heels! I went to with his cousin several times to their apartment in the first year ot two i went to the Gaiety in '96

I remember Brazilian skeletal guy. Messed with him once or twice. He was just okay to me.

Rounds, the upscale hustler joint, had some hot pieces. A few aspiring actors, models and competitive bodybuilders. One guy modeled for Calvin Klein. Another ended up in a few independent mainstream movies. One guy was a Broadway dancer.

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This news, from London's The Guardian, is no comfort to gay sauna lovers:

 

An evangelical bishop has been elected mayor of Rio de Janeiro, as rightwing candidates across Brazil strengthened their influence at the expense of a decimated Workers’ party.

Despite his past condemnation of Catholics and homosexuals, Marcelo Crivella of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God won control of the city in a second round of municipal elections that underscored the rise of religious conservatism and the demise of the leftwing party that has dominated national politics for more than a decade.

*

I don't know how much power a Rio mayor has, but the very election signals desire to return to more conservative roots with a rabidly anti-gay mayor.

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3 hours ago, Lucky said:

This news, from London's The Guardian, is no comfort to gay sauna lovers:

 

An evangelical bishop has been elected mayor of Rio de Janeiro, as rightwing candidates across Brazil strengthened their influence at the expense of a decimated Workers’ party.

Despite his past condemnation of Catholics and homosexuals, Marcelo Crivella of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God won control of the city in a second round of municipal elections that underscored the rise of religious conservatism and the demise of the leftwing party that has dominated national politics for more than a decade.

*

I don't know how much power a Rio mayor has, but the very election signals desire to return to more conservative roots with a rabidly anti-gay mayor.

The gay saunas and clubs weren't even shut down during the military dictatorship period that ended in 1985. I wouldn't be that overly concerned about a religious mayor.

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Guest bobbalino

Rio is a major gay tourist destination and loves our cash, has a large LGTBQ sub-population, and sex work is decriminalized federally, therefore out-of-bounds municipally. And of course we know evangelicals are above having palms greased ;)

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Guest bobbalino

For an interesting, informative and balanced commentary on Rio's new mayor, check out Toronto's Globe & Mail's whip-smart Brazil correspondent Stephanie Nolen's piece Oct. 28th. 

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