If you’re a man who likes to have sex with other men in public places, you’ve landed on the perfect page.. If you’re under 18 or have no interest in this topic, you’ve probably ended up here by accident. Feel free to go back to our main New York City page.
Hook-up apps are fun, and they serve a purpose, but there’s something thrilling and even a little risky about meeting a random stranger, where the chemistry is right, and you hook up then and there. In NYC, the opportunities are endless. Cruise clubs and saunas are here, sure, but there are active parks, piers, and public toilets that make for even more sexy fun. Here’s all you need to know:
Cruise Clubs
NYC has two dedicated cruise clubs, Eagle NYC in Chelsea and Les Hommes on the Upper West Side.
Eagle NYC
Located on West 28th Street in Chelsea, Eagle NYC (like the other Eagle Bars worldwide) is a cruise bar for the leather and fetish scene. Reopened in 2001 in an old 19th-century horse stable, it’s two levels of hedonistic pleasure. Head on up to the roof for some anything-goes action.
Les Hommes
Upper-West Side gays, there’s a cruise club in your gayborhood and it’s called Les Hommes (the men!). It’s actually a sex shop out front, but behind there are 10 video rooms playing some exceptionally hot gay porn. Grab a booth and a stranger and have some fun.
Gay Bars with Dark Rooms
Imagine hanging out at a bar, having a few drinks, listening to some music, maybe making some new friends, but then you have this urgent need to hook up. You’re in luck. These two bars offer just that, the ground floor is a regular bar, but downstairs, that’s where the real fun begins.
Nowhere Bar
Nowhere Bar in the East Village is a laid-back gay dive bar with a basement dark room. The bar level is welcoming, has friendly bartenders, and the music is provided by a jukebox. Downstairs, it’s whatever you want it to be; the crowd is mixed, and it gets very busy on weekends and late nights.
The Cock
Also located in the East Village, the Cock is a lively bar with DJ sets and gogo boy shows on the main floor. Downstairs is dark and dirty, and how you expect it to be. The Cock is so well-known that it even has its own Wikipedia page. Coming up to its 30th birthday, if you’re horny and in the Village, you know where to go.
Bathhouses
NYC has two bathhouses, and both of them have a history extending well past 50 years.
The East Side Club
The East Side Club in Midtown (not far from Grand Central Station) is New York City’s last remaining traditional gay bathhouse. Opened in 1976, it’s about to have a massive 50-year birthday party. It’s open 24/7, is hygienically clean, and very, very popular. Guys of all shapes and sizes and ages hang out here. When’s the best time to go? When you’re horny!
The Russian and Turkish Baths
For over 130 years, the Russian and Turkish Baths has been the place New Yorkers go to unwind and steam. It’s co-ed most of the time, but on Thursdays between Midday and 5 pm, and Sundays between and 2 pm, it’s men only, and that’s when the fun begins. Entry fee is $60.There are discounts if you buy multiple entry tickets, the best value being $950 for 30 admissions. If you’re after one of its signature treatments, they’re additional and need to be booked in advance.
Parks, Piers, and Beaches
NYC has a long history of gay hookups in its parks and piers, and today some of the places are still active. If you’re out and about in the city, you may want to check out the following:
Central Park
One of the most iconic parks in the world does attract horny guys after dark. Not the whole park, of course, but a section known as the Ramble has lots of winding pathways surrounded by bushland. It’s in the northern section of the park near 72nd Street.
Christopher Street Pier
Christopher Street will always be known as the gay epicenter of NYC, even if most of the bars and venues have moved to other locations. The pier at the end of the street is a place for sexy guys to take their shirts off and bask in the sun by day, then stick around until after work for some early evening fun. In the 1970s, it was a massive rent-boy hangout, but today, you won’t be asked to pay for some fun; it’s all just like-minded guys there for a good time.
Riis Park Beach
Jacob Riis Park in Queens has been a popular gay beach and cruising spot since the 1940s. Bay 1 is clothing-optional, and that’s where the gays hang out (literally). There’s plenty of bushland around in case you meet someone handsome and horny. Riis Park Beach is a bit of a hike, but totally worth it, especially in summer. The best way is to take the NYC Ferry from Wall Street or Brooklyn Army Terminal to Rockaway, then a short bus ride to the beach.
Fire Island (Greater New York City)
So it’s not technically NYC, it’s 60 miles east, but it needs to be on the list as it’s the summer playground for NYC gays, and the cruise scene is epic. Fire Island has two gayborhoods, The Pines and Cherry Grove, and wouldn’t you know it, they’re separated by wooded dunes nicknamed “The Meat Rack”. It’s a maze of trails through scrub pines and dunes, and activity typically happens after dark or in the late afternoon. The best part is that men come from both directions (Pines and Grove), and they’re already nude or semi-clothed and ready for some action.
Public Toilets
Beat sex was one of the first ways gay guys found hookups with others. Changes in legislation and heavier police presence have made these places less active, but they still exist. The action tends to move around, so what we list today might be redundant tomorrow. However, you can find where they are yourself:
How to Find the Best Cruising Places
Wouldn’t it be great if there were an app that told you where the hottest and busiest cruising places are right now? There is! We’ve been suggested by many of our website visitors that Sniffies actually works. Check it out, whenever you’re in the mood for it, someone else is too. Get online and download Sniffies now, create a profile, and get cruising.
Is Cruising Legal in the US?
If you want to be technical about it, “cruising,” meeting up with other guys with the view to having sex, isn’t illegal. It’s the sex in public part that is. New York Penal Law §245.00 (how about that name!) lists any sexual act or exposure of genitals in public as against the law. The fine is around $500, but on almost every occasion that someone has been fined, it’s because they’re doing it in public and someone has called the police. If there’s nobody around to complain about it, and you’re in the mood for something risky, you could try something.
Back in the 1990s, police entrapment in public toilets was a big deal. Hot, hunky police officers would stand at a urinal and wait for you to flash your cock at them, then arrest you for indecent exposure. The most famous of these cases was George Michael in April 1998 in an LA public toilet. He claimed that the cop was sexy and very impressive where it counts. The NYC police today have enough to keep them busy to allow the young hot ones to hang out in public toilets. If they do, it might be for the same reason as you ;).
Bottom line: Be discreet. If it looks at all risky, either don’t do it, or head to a cruise club or sauna where it’s perfectly legal and you’re in the right place doing the best thing.
