New York

The New York scene

New York’s rope scene grew out of one of the oldest organized BDSM communities in the United States. The Eulenspiegel Society (TES) was founded in the city in 1971 and is often described as the first BDSM organization in the country. It began as a support group whose members met in private homes, and later rented space in theaters and churches. It is still run by volunteers as a nonprofit. Today it holds about two classes a week, and its special-interest groups include one for bondage. For its 25th anniversary in 1996 it hosted a large convention with more than 1,300 attendees.

From shop classes to rope spaces

By the early 2010s, beginners could take introductory shibari classes in ordinary city venues. In December 2012, Time Out New York listed “An Introduction to Shibari: Rope Bondage” with Valentine Amartey at SHAG, an adult boutique in Williamsburg. The class was open to couples and singles of any orientation and covered aesthetics, safety and a few basic knots. Amartey still teaches SHAG’s Intro to Shibari group class, now held at the Moxy Williamsburg hotel, and the shop also hosts erotic art exhibitions.

Two spaces in Brooklyn are built around rope. Temple in Bushwick calls itself a space where people interested in BDSM and rope bondage can gather. Its “House of Three Beams” emblem is named after three steel beams in the building’s structure. Its program runs from a required introductory class through four numbered levels to dynamic suspension, alongside open jams, study groups, peer-led sessions and a practice series on consent. Instructors on its calendar include teachers based in Paris and Montreal. Temple invites people to contact it directly or use an incident report form, and says reports are received by independent collaborators at the Safer Spaces Group.

Coil & Cord in Gowanus is a queer-owned studio and gallery. Rope is one of several crafts there. Its small room, about 420 square feet, has many hardpoints in the ceiling and posts that can be used for suspension and aerial work. Beside rope workshops, intensives and rope jams, it hosts figure drawing, fiber arts, art exhibitions and monthly queer craft nights.

Communities within the community

Several groups serve particular audiences instead of the general scene. Knotty NY is a rope social for gay, bi, pan, queer and trans men. It meets for Tuesday and Saturday sessions, and on the fourth Tuesday of the month it holds a rope night at a bar. NYC Shibari, the studio of the rope artists Zero-Gi and Sam Jay, has taught and performed internationally since 2020. The duo teach workshops at Coil & Cord, perform in a cabaret series in Bushwick and run a project called NYC Street Shibari.

How the city fits the wider picture

The regional conventions and teaching networks that link New York with the rest of the continent are described in Kinbaku in North America. The venues on this page advertise their classes in English. People who are new to rope may find What happens at a first shibari class and Rope jams, munches and salons useful before they visit.