From gangsters to hipsters, artists to politicians, New York’s Russian & Turkish Baths continues to attract a colourful crowd with its basement banya
If New York is a metaphorical melting pot,then the Russian & Turkish Baths, a New York institution for 131 years, is where the term becomes literal. There, in the basement of an East Village landmark tenement, a cacophony of citizens gather together, strip naked and sweat. Amongst the steam, you can find a tattooed skater next to an elderly rabbi, a yoga instructor next to a clean-cut finance bro, all there for the same reason, ‘the schvitz’.
Prior to dividing the business in the 1990s, Boris and David had originally purchased the baths together in 1985. Then known as the 10th Street Baths, it was the last vestige of the Lower East Side’s once-vibrant bathhouse culture that began in the 19th century with a civic push to provide clean water and bathing facilities to the city’s tenement communities.
Brian Peoples, founder of the Polaris School of Yoga, strikes a full lotus pose by the ice cold plunge pool And while some aspects of the Russian & Turkish Baths have changed, the fundamentals remain the same. ‘This is a social spa,’ says Dmitry. ‘You can meet new people of all ages, creeds, genders and income brackets. You can keep to yourself if you want to, but you can also just hang out. It’s healthier than going to the bar.’As Misha Hyman, a private chef and ardent bath attendee, puts it, ‘People who come here for the first time are immediately welcomed into the family.
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