page_title: New St. Marks Baths
hierarchical_section_title: New St. Marks Baths
caption_attribution_description: English: The building on the left is the former location of St. Marks Baths on East Village, New York City. On the right is the Hamilton-Holly House historic landmark.
context_page_description: The New St. Marks Baths was a gay bathhouse at 6 St. Marks Place in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City from 1979 to 1985. It claimed to be the largest gay bath house in the world.
  The Saint Marks Baths opened in the location in 1913. Through the 1950s, it operated as a Turkish bath catering to immigrants on New York's Lower East Side. In the 1950s, it began to have a homosexual clientele at night. In the 1960s, it became exclusively gay.
  In 1979, the bathhouse was refurbished, and the name was changed to the New Saint Marks Baths. In 1981, the neighboring building was purchased, with plans to expand.
  The AIDS epidemic caused some activists such as Larry Kramer to urge its closing. In October 1985, an emergency resolution updating the New York Sanitary Code § 24.2, authorized the New York City Department of Health to close any facilities "in which high risk sexual activity takes place." Despite providing information on AIDS and condoms to all who entered, the New St. Mark's Baths was shuttered permanently on December 7, 1985.
context_section_description: The New St. Marks Baths was a gay bathhouse at 6 St. Marks Place in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City from 1979 to 1985. It claimed to be the largest gay bath house in the world.
  The Saint Marks Baths opened in the location in 1913. Through the 1950s, it operated as a Turkish bath catering to immigrants on New York's Lower East Side. In the 1950s, it began to have a homosexual clientele at night. In the 1960s, it became exclusively gay.
  In 1979, the bathhouse was refurbished, and the name was changed to the New Saint Marks Baths. In 1981, the neighboring building was purchased, with plans to expand.
  The AIDS epidemic caused some activists such as Larry Kramer to urge its closing. In October 1985, an emergency resolution updating the New York Sanitary Code (10 NYCRR) § 24.2, authorized the New York City Department of Health to close any facilities "in which high risk sexual activity takes place." Despite providing information on AIDS and condoms to all who entered, the New St. Mark's Baths was shuttered permanently on December 7, 1985.
caption: Site of the bathhouse in 2009 (left), after being extensively renovated for retail use
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