Lou Reed was occasionally one of the many famous patrons inside and Freddie Mercury frequented the club when he lived in New York City from 1980 to 1982. Between shows, and to the sounds of 'loud' disco music, there was dancing that was described to be 'as fierce as a bottle of fresh poppers.' Īs a historian of that period wrote, 'the spectators themselves were the performers.' On the main floor, the shows varied from performances by drag queens to live fisting shows, with guys often being suspended on ropes over the bar. There were reportedly mock crucifixions, golden showers, and 'plenty of anonymous sex.' The club would accept 'some drag queens' but not women. Behind the screen, there was a 'cavernous' and 'dark' backroom that was used as a sex area. There was another small bar downstairs with a large screen on which gay male porn of the period was shown. In the fall of 1974, The Anvil opened, with the main floor featuring a dance floor and a rectangular bar along with a performance area, all painted black. By the 1970s, the building was housing a pay-by-the-hour hotel named Liberty Inn. The club was housed in a building originally constructed in 1908, then known as 'The Strand Hotel' with a saloon on the ground floor, that catered to sailors and accepted only men as customers.
