Tag Archives: New York Fuckin City

The LURE

Does anyone remember  the LURE leather bar in NYC? I wrote the article below for GMSMA’s newsletter, NewsLink, back in 2003, after my favorite leather bar closed down.

LURE

 

Farewell to the LURE

By MetalbondNYC

The LURE, New York City’s popular leather bar, closed on April 9, 2003, after nearly a decade of being the place to go for leather guys. GMSMA, the Renegades, Iron Guard and other local groups held bar nights at the LURE, and after the Manhole closed the bar became home to GMSMA’s Dungeon Demos. The LURE was also home to its own events such as the popular Pork on Wednesdays, regular rubber and uniform nights, foot fetish parties, and more.  You could shop in the Noose II store, and get your boots shined by the bootblack on duty.  The bar also popped up on HBO’s “Sex and the City,” when Samantha moved in upstairs.

The brainchild of the late Wally Wallace and bankrolled by a number of investors from within the community, the LURE (an acronym for Leather, Rubber, Uniforms, Etc.) opened in January 1994.   And while it did not actually turn a profit for its owners until several years later, leather men showed up in large numbers at the bar, which was jam packed every weekend in the early ’90s.

The LURE was a place to strut your stuff, to wear fetish attire of all kinds — leather and tall boots, cop or firefighter gear, rubber/latex, combat fatigues. Even guys dressed as gas station attendants were right at home there.  You could cruise for a hot leather daddy, collar a slave, or make out with a hot guy in the back.  And it wasn’t uncommon to see men there licking boots, torturing nipples, or even gulping down piss from beer bottles or glasses.

The bar was far from perfect — a dress code that was once enforced became somethig of a joke, as “tourists” and guys in sneakers would try to blend in with leather cops and rubbermen.  And that $7 cover charge seemed a little steep.  At least you got a ticket for your first drink.

As the rise of the Internet slowed business (who wants to schlep across town to pick up a trick when you can go online and “order in”?) attendance was way down, especially on Friday nights during the summer months.  When the Eagle re-emerged on West 28th Street, it drew many men away from the LURE, but most of the leather guys stayed.

In the end, some of the same forces that led Samantha to take that apartment upstairs contributed to the demise of the LURE.  Real estate in the Meat Market district became red hot as condos, nightclubs and restaurants started popping up like weeds.  The LURE’s lease was up, giving the landlord the opportunity to jack up the rent.  And when insurance premiums skyrocketed as well, it made the LURE’s existence at its West 13th Street location no longer finiancially viable for its owners.  There was talk of the bar relocating to a new space, but that turned out to be just talk.

Many of us will always have good memories of the LURE and the good times we had there over the years.   And we’ll also remember many of its former employees — Russ and John, the two bartenders who stayed with the bar for the whole run.  And Joey, one of the bar’s first managers, who was always there in full leather, rubber or fetish gear to greet regular customers with a smile.  And don’t forget Dominic, who with his tattoos and piercinngs was the most intimidating-looking doorman New York has ever seen.

So it’s the end for the LURE, at least for now.   It just goes to show that nothing lasts forever.  Just ask those who used to hang out at the Spike, the Altar and even the Mineshaft.

 

 

 

GMSMA NewsLink

!NewsLink49-50Before I had this website, waaaaaay back a long time ago, I was a member of Gay Male SM Activists (GMSMA), a New York City-based organization. GMSMA aimed to promote safe, sane and consensual SM through three “pillars” — education, activism and social activities. Sadly, GMSMA closed up shop a few years back. (To read about that, click here.)

I was editor of NewsLink, the newsletter for GMSMA, for about five years, and I was recently going through some boxes of old stuff and I came across a bunch of old issues. Here is a sampling:

NewsLink_inside_JocksSM NewsLink_inside_TattooJourney_cover NewsLink_inside_TattooJourney_inside NewsLink45 NewsLink56I did not want to throw my extra copies away, so Hilton over at Purple Passion here in NYC graciously agreed to distribute them. You can stop by Purple Passion, located at 211 West 20th Street just west of 7th Avenues in Manhattan, and pick up a copy.

While you;re at it, you might want to buy something, because they are having a huge sale this week. They also have a very large stock of vintage magazines available for really cheap.

Click the box below for the Purple Passion website:

PurplePassion

If you stop in, be sure to tell them that Metalbond sent you!

Bondage at the movies: Kink – The documentary movie

Last night I attended the NYC premiere of “Kink,” the James Franco-produced documentary on the inner workings of Kink.com, with my friend Pisslurper. I ran into a bunch of other “usual suspects” there, including some familiar faces from the long lost days of GMSMA, and a few other guys.

The movie was shown at Lincoln Center as part of the NewFest LGBT Film Festival. It was VERY explicit, and I am not sure when or how it would ever be shown to the masses. Despite featuring a few more women than men, I was nevertheless intrigued by seeing some of the inner workings of the company, especially since I had the privilege of visiting the Armory, the building in San Francico where it all happens, a few years back. (For more about that, you can read my post Meting Van Darkholme.)

Pisslurper and I particularly enjoyed seeing Jessie Colter. We’re both longtime admirers of the gay male-themed sites available from Kink.com — namely, Bound Gods, Men on Edge, Bound In Public, Naked Kombat and Butt Machine Boys.

Here are a few gratuitous pictures from some recent (or not so recent) offerings from the gay sites at Kink.com. Clicking on any of these pictures will take you directly to the specific scenes depicted at these various pay sites (which are worth every penny, in my opinion):

MOE_TrentonDucatiAbove: Trenton Ducati at Men on Edge

BIP_Jordan FosterJordan Foster at Bound In Public

Jessie Coulter_NKAbove: Jessie Colter and Marcus Ruhl at Naked Kombat

BMB_RustyStevensAbove: Rusty Stevens at Butt Machine Boys

Christian_Wilde_Tyler_Sweet_BGAbove: Christian Wilde and Tyler Sweet at Bound Gods

Ballet and dance performance bondage

I have a bondage buddy who happens to be total sissy queen when it comes to anything involving the ballet and modern dance. Sure, he’s kinky a hell, but he is also very “nelly” if you know what I mean. He even wears scarves and brooches and has a limp wrist and he calls people “darling” and (I swear this is true) he even carries his collection of ropes and gags around town in a Degas bag. For real!

So one day I was over at his place when I noticed a flier for the American Ballet Theater featuring this hunky stud of man-meat adorned with rope:

gay bondage

 

And when I asked about it, he tells me the guy is none other than Marcelo Gomes, one of the world’s most famous ballet stars (and he is smoking hot, just google him if you don’t believe me!)

Anyway, then last week I was reading The New York Times and I ran across a review for a performance at the Joyce Theater in NYC called “Pilobolus” that was apparently inspired by the escape artistry of the great Harry Houdini in which the performers actually tie each other up with ropes and chains.

 

And I figured, bingo, I can do a blog posting about this! And yeah, it’s apparent that the ballet and dance is totally about bondage now. Who would have guessed? Fags.

 

Sunday is bondage day

New York Bondage Club

WHAT: New York Bondage Club

WHEN: THIS SUNDAY (and every Sunday)

WHERE: Paddles, located at 250 W 26th St, between 7th & 8th Av. (enter side door)

HOURS: Play from 7pm – 1am

DRESS CODE: NO Dress code enforced. Wear leather, rubber, fetish gear, or nothing at all. Or wear jeans and a t-shirt. You decide what you want to wear.

COAT/CLOTHES CHECK: $2

EQUIPMENT: Lots of bondage/SM equipment and club rope to use, or bring your own.

NEW SLING added.

BAR: BYOB, $2 soda, complimentary snacks provided.

ATTENDANCE: Averages from 50 to 80 guys.

 

For the club’s official website, click HERE.

Folsom Street East is canceled for this year

Folsom Street East

This is a message from the organizers of NYC’s Folsom Street East street fair

 

Dear Friends and Fans of Folsom Street East

It is with sadness that the Producers and Board of Directors of Folsom Street East have to announce that the 17th annual Folsom Street East Street Festival this June is going to be cancelled. Though we continue to receive support for this community-building and fundraising event from Community Board 4 and our neighbors on the block (including our producing partner The Eagle NYC), the ever-growing construction on the north side of 28th street has made it impossible for us to successfully and safely hold our annual street festival. Thank you for the years of support from our attendees, sponsors, partners, exhibitors, vendors, performers and volunteers; we are sad that we will not be able to celebrate Pride with you at our fetish-friendly event this year.

We also hope you continue to join Folsom Street East at our other events, including our various LGBT Pride Month events, our annual “A Fetish for Fashion” fashion show this fall, and at  the many partner events we participate in throughout the year, and hope to see you back on the kinky streets of NYC next year!

The Folsom Street East Street Festival has always been a benefit event, and we will continue to support our beneficiaries:

 

The Anti-Violence Project  

The National Coalaition for Sexual Freedom 

The LGBT Center 

 

We hope that you – even though you won’t be supporting them through your Street Fair entrance donation –  will continue to support these organizations as they do their important work with and for our community.

Thanks for 16 great years celebrating sexual freedom with the Folsom Street East Street Festival, and we hope to see you back on the kinky streets of New York City in 2014!