Was it Wednesday that was ladies only day? May still be ladies day? Otherwise, it was mixed genders four days and ‘men only’ on two days. Or something like that. And I cannot tell you who introduced me to the baths, only that on a cold day in winter, or a mild day in spring or fall, the 10th Street Baths were the best thing going. Cheap (10 bucks? twenty?), fulfilling, revivifying, cleansing – and amusing. I remember being stunned and wanting to laugh out loud at the person (you paid extra for this service) lying face down inside the main steam room being beaten by a stout Russian woman with a hardy branch of oak leaves. It remains funny to this day. To me, at least.
Since 1892, the year my grandmother was born, they have been doing their thing on East 10th between 1st and 2nd avenues, and thank goodness for that. Finding a relatively inexpensive way to recharge, refresh and take a dip in the coldest water outside a Catskill’s Crick in winter – what a blessing.
Would I have known or heard about it if I hadn’t had friends who were native NYers? Doubtful. But perhaps. Actors and writers are always looking for a decent value in getting a sweat on and out. I loved this place, and while I mostly went there with friends on Ladies ONLY Day (and never on co-mingle days) I also took myself there solo, because spending an hour to two at the 10th St. baths is as good as a sweaty run around Central Park, no kidding, only a lot less effort.
Bonus: people watching. Other people, other women, their rituals and behavior. And the always pleasant and enlightening experience of seeing bodies as we and they are – the sheer, infinite variety of what we are, our living selves – all beautiful, all capable, all worth saving, respecting, and loving.
Very few other women would get into the ice cold bath, but for me, going from extreme heat to equally extreme cold was a big part of the attraction; this hot to cold and back again got my blood flowing, heart pumping, and skin glowing. The main hot room resembled nothing so much as a cave in the bedrock it appeared to be carved out of, the same bedrock as that which holds the skyscrapers up. Glorious, gorgeous New York City.
