Thursday, March 8, 2007
Places To Make Out: The Brooklyn Promenade, Brooklyn
filed under: Jet Sex by Lux Nightmare
New York — and Manhattan in particular — is a crowded, dense city. Wherever you go, you’re rarely alone. Even at home, there’s usually someone else around: roommates are par for the course in this city, even as people pass out of young adulthood and into “real” adulthood — economics require it.
There’s something about these close quarters that seems to make public sex de rigeur (or at least somewhat common): when private space is an expensive commodity, when we’re so used to being surrounded by people no matter where we go, the lines between private and public begin to blur. Sex ceases to be a wholly private activity, and moves out into the public sphere.
That’s not quite my story, but it’s close. See, I used to date two boys at once.
One was my live-in boyfriend. One was my other boyfriend.
My live-in boyfriend lived with me in a chichi Union Square apartment. This was fine.
My other boyfriend lived with his parents. This was not.
Sometimes I had enough notice from my other boyfriend to schedule alone time with him — to make sure that my live-in boyfriend would be elsewhere while I made use of the apartment.
But often, that wasn’t the case: my other boyfriend had a habit of making plans at the last minute, of calling me out of the blue to say that he suddenly had some free time and wanted to see me.
This is how I became acquainted with public sex.
My other boyfriend called me up at 1am one night. We hadn’t seen each other in a while. He asked if I wanted to get food with him.
Half an hour later, I met him at San Loco. Not long after that, we were looking for somewhere to fuck.
The Brooklyn Promenade was his idea.
The Brooklyn Promenade is mostly known for its spectacular view: perched on the East River, right above the BQE, it offers an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and the Statue of Liberty. Tourists flock to the Brooklyn Bridge on the fourth of July, drawn by its unobstructed view of the fireworks.
It’s also a pretty good place to make out.
Though it failed to make Gridskipper’s list of the best public sex spots in New York, the Brooklyn Promenade is more than adequate in this regard. It’s pretty, it’s quiet, and there’s a row of bushes to provide camouflague for couples in search of some discretion.
At three in the morning, the Brooklyn Promenade is relatively deserted — only a handful of people spread out among the benches. My other boyfriend and I found a dark spot and dove into the bushes behind one of the benches, continuing our evening in relative privacy.
Some time later we emerged back into the dark of Brooklyn: a little dirty, and slightly disheveled, but otherwise no worse for wear. We took a minute to take in the view from the Promenade (it really is quite lovely) and then found a cab on the streets of DUMBO and rode back into the city.
Public sex has faded out of my repertoire, but for a brief time it was an essential part of my sex life: caught as I was between two boys, with not enough space for the both of them, it stepped in to fill a very apparent gap.
I haven’t been back to the Brooklyn Promenade since my one night there, but when I think of it, from time to time, it always brings a little grin to my face.
[photo by Chandler07]
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