[citation needed] The Saint Marks Baths opened in the location in 1913.

Through the 1950s, it operated as a Victorian-style Turkish bath catering to Russian-Jewish immigrants on New York's Lower East Side.

[2] The AIDS epidemic caused some activists such as Larry Kramer to urge its closing.

In October 1985, an emergency resolution updating the New York Sanitary Code (10 NYCRR) § 24.2, authorized the New York City Department of Health to close any facilities "in which high risk sexual activity takes place.

"[3] Despite providing information on AIDS and condoms to all patrons, the New St. Mark's Baths was closed permanently on December 7, 1985.