Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1985. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times - November 3, 1985
Albert Scardino and Alan Finder
After the state announced its emergency regulations two weeks ago, Mr. Koch, along with some medical experts, suggested that enforcement might be difficult. The rules authorize local governments to close bathhouses and other establishments where "high-risk" sexual activity takes place. The theory is that such sex, usually involving homosexual men, provides the potential for transmission of AIDS, which destroys the immune system.
Wednesday morning, the Mayor said the regulations were "inadequate" and might not hold up in court. "What would it look like if we take action and close a bathhouse and two days later a court opens it up?" he said. "Then we look like jerks." But about three hours later, Mr. Koch said the city could work up guidelines to provide a legal buttress for the regulations within two days.
And by 5 P.M., after a telephone conversation with Governor Cuomo, the Mayor said the city had begun to carry out the new state rules. He declined to be specific, saying that law enforcement was involved.
Mr. Koch contended that he had not shifted his position, although under questioning he acknowledged that he was concerned about the perception that he was not responding decisively enough to public fears of AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Mayoral assistants said later that undercover city inspectors would enter bathhouses and that, if they found evidence of unsafe sexual activity, the city would eventually try to close the centers.
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