Plato's Retreat
The Ansonia Hotel, second location of Plato's Retreat
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| Location | New York City, New York, U.S. |
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| Owner |
Larry Levenson Fred J. Lincoln |
| Type | Swingers club |
| Opened | 1977 |
| Closed | 1985 |
Plato's Retreat was a swingers' club in New York City, owned first by Larry Levenson, and later by Fred J. Lincoln, that catered to heterosexual couples and bisexual women.
The club, opened in 1977 by Larry Levenson, a high school friend of Al Goldstein, was popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was first located in the basement of the somewhat rundown Kenmore Hotel on East 23rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues before moving to the basement of the Ansonia Hotel, an ornate-19th century building on the corner of Broadway and West 73rd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Prior to Plato's Retreat, the building housed the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse where Bette Midler provided musical entertainment early in her career. Plato's relocated to 509 West 34th Street in 1980.
Plato's Retreat, a members-only establishment, required everyone to follow the club's numerous rules. Levenson, determined not to permit his nightspot to become infiltrated by male homosexuals, insisted that only straight couples – and women, escorted or otherwise – be allowed to enter the premises, and once a woman left a room after a sexual encounter, her male companion had to accompany her. This rule was intended to ensure that women nearly always outnumbered men – Levenson strictly prohibited sexual activity between males but welcomed lesbianism. Drugs, including alcohol, were not allowed, though they were frequently used despite the rule. The club had a disco dance floor, an in-house DJ, sauna rooms, and a swimming pool with waterfalls.
During its heyday, Plato's Retreat was considered the world's most infamous sex club, popular with many celebrities, porn stars, and well-to-do couples. The clientele was described as "an assortment of kinky types from the suburbs: dry cleaners and their wives or fat men in toupees with their heavily made-up girlfriends." Many men attended accompanied by a prostitute.
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