Lenny & Leather

This Columbus Day weekend, leather and fetish is taking back the Meatpacking District. It’s the all-gender New York Leather Weekend—complete with brunch!

And what perfect timing, after the Post proclaimed we’re in a heyday of “Dungeon Alley” and, after a spate of busts, dominatrixes are talking unionization. S/M is in the air. For the occasion, I chatted with Lenny Waller, big Daddy of the New York leather scene and former manager of the infamous Hellfire Club, now the Vento Trattoria.

He told me, “Hell Fire opened in 1978. Before it was Hell Fire it was the Catacombs. Before that it was the Sewer. The basement of 28 9th Avenue had a dirt floor... We put milk boxes on the floor around the bar so you wouldn't have to stand and drink in the mud.” That basement will soon be Vento's luxury lounge.


photo source: Lenny Waller

Lenny recalled trying a meal at Vento, saying, “It was not as good as it was supposed to be. The other couple with me was a gay male couple. Jerry said to me, ‘I always used to jerk off and cum on that wall.’ An older theater-going couple looked on in horror. I grinned.”

I wonder, if we scanned today’s MePa with one of those forensic blue lights, would we see ghosts of ejaculate past glowing on every wall of every cafe and boutique? Would Pastis reveal a Jackson Pollock of jizz?


photo source: Lenny Waller

As I covered here in before-and-after photos, Meatpacking was once loaded with sex clubs. Lenny ran down an exhaustive list from his memory: “The Mine Shaft, The Ram Rod, The Eagle, The Spike, The Anvil, The Tool Box, The Strap, Glory Hole, Kellers, The Ramp, Boots & Saddles, Cell Block, Cell Block 28, Hellfire, Chateau 19, GG Barnum, The Grape Vine, The Gilded Grape, The 82 Club, Sally's Hide Away.” To which he added, “God, I'm old.”

Back in the day, you had to "earn your leathers" as a rite of passage. Lenny explained, "Usually the novice received brown leather. He would get his boots, vest, chaps, each garment a reward of accomplishment. You knew what it was to be tied, how to be a slave, what it meant to be a Daddy's boy. You were proud to be out on Christopher Street on a Saturday or Sunday with your Daddy. Today, people go out, buy their leathers, and zap: Instant Master or Mistress."


photo source: Lenny Waller

He doesn’t believe dominatrixes need to unionize because what they do is an art. As for the recent busts of dungeons, he refers us to the 1993 Brooklyn case of People v. Georgia A., which states, “the NY City Criminal Court held that prostitution does not encompass sado-masochistic relationships. The court observed that sado-masochistic acts such as domination, foot licking, spanking and submission are not ‘sexual conduct’ prohibited by the prostitution statute."

Thanks to police harassment, the AIDS crisis, gentrification, etc., New York has lost the sextravaganza that once flourished here. As Lenny recalls, "In 1983, NYC had 19 porn theaters, 4 live sex shows, 1 sex theater performance, 8 burlesque theaters, 4 topless bars, 10 Scumatoriams, 15 adult book stores, 8 on-premise swing clubs, 4 S&M clubs, 10 gay movie theaters, 12 gay bath houses, 5 listed massage parlors, 11 listed oriental spas, 1 live S&M performance, 6 S&M and fetish shops, and at least 20 gay bars with active back rooms.”


entrance to Mineshaft, source: Lenny Waller

Even if you're not into watching people spank each other in the cobblestoned streets of MePa, but you are interested in New York history, check out Saturday's "Enter the Mineshaft," and relive a little bit of that vanished city.

Lenny's Links:
On Yahoo, Lenny runs a BDSM event list and the Hellfire Club Group (NSFW). He also runs AIDS Candlelight Vigil and supports the AIDS quilt.