So there I was, just minutes ago, walking up Broadway, sweaty from the gym. After an intense six months in the gym nearly every day of the week, I've been a little burnt out. Nothing like street fairs, Bad Boys cruises and going to Southern Decadence to motivate this guy to get his ass in gear.
Anyway, so tonight I'm coming out of Equinox at 92nd and Broadway. I saunter up the street towards my place on W. 102nd and, when I stop at the corner of 96th, I looked to my right and what is standing there but a six foot man decked out in leather - from head to toe.
It was one of those moments, like when Dorothy discovers the Tin Man. The apple rolls to his foot, she sees it and then the camera pans slowly up til she sees "a man, a man made out of tin" except he was in leather - boots, leather pants, black t, black leather vest, leather jacket and black leather engineer's cap. He was tall, maybe 6 foot 2, in shape, maybe late 40s and had a great, sexy moustache and scruff. And keys dangling from his back right belt loop. All that was missing was the hanky.
It was like he had stepped out of 1978 (which for those of you who know my taste, know that this is a plus, not a minus).
Now no one is loping around the Upper West Side at 7pm on a Wednesday night if they're not going on a booty call. One doesn't just take a walk up here in that get up without having somewhere to go.
There are gays up here but although I've been up here 9 years, I'm not really sure how many and where they are. Once in awhile I'll meet someone and discover they live two blocks from me. Maybe I need to start a gay night at the little dive bar around the corner from me just so I can get laid by someone without having to log on or schlep down to mid-town.
Anyway, I was boring a hole through the back of his head trying to get his attention, you know without actually just saying something (but really what's the pick up line "hey there, nice leather"..?) and then he walked into a Walgreens. Now me being me I decided in my head that he was going in to get Fleets.. and while I thought about following him in, I thought "do I really want to get kicked out of a Walgreens for cruising some guy? How horny am I?"
And so I just continued walking up the street. But just seconds later, I turned to my left and he had caught up with me. There we were walking about a foot apart, side by side, but neither of us was willing to make the first move. For blocks. And by the way, it's worth noting, he did not have a Walgreens bag with him.
And then, at my street, I turned and he kept on going. I would like to think that he was regretting not saying something but I kind of think that maybe he didn't even notice that I was there.
The strangest thing about the non-encounter was that it's been YEARS since I've seen anyone in New York City in full head to toe leather - other than occasionally at the Eagle or at Folsom East.
Living in San Francisco in the late 80s and in New York in the mid to late 90s, I saw this kind of thing on a semi regular basis. I miss the leather man as a part of the gay cultural landscape. But then I also miss the roidy party muscle heads that used to populate Chelsea and the fabulous activists from San Francisco that used to do things like dress crazy and go to suburban malls to show people what gay people look like. I miss people getting riled up and making political statements, like ACTUP and Queer Nation used to do. And yes, I know, it was all a different time and we cannot live in the past.
Still, it was like I had momentarily been transported back to my 20s. And I have to admit that I got all blushy and tentative, just like I was like in my 20s. It's the second time in two days. Last night coming home from seeing a show, I was flirted with by The Worlds Cutest Young Man. We exchanged glances and blushed and smiled and winked all the way from the 72nd Street stop up to my stop at 103rd. I kind of got so flustered that I forgot that I had a wallet full of business cards.
On the other hand, sometimes it's not necessary (for me anyway) to do anything about these kinds of experiences. Sometimes just knowing that they still can happen is pretty awesome.
However, the fluster has amped up my already soaring horniness (it's been weeks since I've gotten laid) and I might just have to go cruise Broadway myself! :)
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