Attic (New York City Gay Leather & Sex Club/1986-1996)

The Attic – New York, NY (1986–1996)
410 W. 14th Street — Meatpacking District

In the shadow of crisis, The Attic did not retreat.

Operating from 1986 to 1996, primarily at 410 West 14th Street, The Attic was a private, members-only leather and sex club founded by Wally Wallace, the longtime manager of the legendary Mineshaft (closed by the city in 1985). In the immediate aftermath of widespread government shutdowns of gay sex venues during the AIDS crisis, The Attic represented something radical:

Not denial.
Not abandonment.
Recalibration.

Where earlier spaces had been shut down under public health pressure, The Attic built harm reduction into its structure. Its printed house rules were explicit and uncompromising: condoms, latex gloves, water-based lube, mouthwash, and hot water were provided and expected to be used. Anal play required protection. Hands and bodies were to be washed between encounters. Scented products were banned. Alcohol and smoking were restricted to social areas. Consent, cleanliness, and mutual respect were enforced conditions of entry.

In an era of fear, misinformation, and surveillance, The Attic treated safer sex as communal responsibility.

As a leather-focused space, it also made history through its Jack of Color (JOC) parties — recurring safe-sex events created for men of color and their friends, including Black, Caribbean, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Arab, and South Asian men. At a time when racial exclusion was common in many leather environments, The Attic became a rare site where sexual freedom, racial inclusivity, and public health were deliberately intertwined.

Like the Mineshaft before it, The Attic operated in constant tension with city authorities. In July 1996, it was closed by the New York City Department of Health for permitting sexual activity — another turning point in the regulation of queer spaces. Wallace continued organizing events at other addresses, including 157 Eighth Avenue, and helped open The LURE in 1994 before his passing in 1999.