The Mineshaft attracted a wide range of patrons, some famous. Among those who frequented the club were author
Jack Fritscher (who was present at its opening night and attended hundreds of times), Fritscher's lover
Robert Mapplethorpe (who took many pictures of the Mineshaft, was at one point its official photographer, and once said, "After dinner I go to the Mineshaft."), gay
erotic artist
Rex, and
Annie Sprinkle, who claimed she was one of three women ever allowed in.
Freddie Mercury,
Vincente Minnelli,
Rainer Werner Fassbinder,
Rock Hudson,
Michel Foucault, and
Camille O'Grady are also known to have visited. Manager Wally Wallace (born James Wallace) said that he once refused entry to
Mick Jagger, and a bouncer turned away
Rudolf Nureyev. There was no sign on the entrance; the exterior has been described as "grimy". The location had previously been used by a
gay bar, Zodiac. The entrance to the club was up a flight of stairs, on the second floor. The door was staffed by someone who rejected anyone wearing
preppie clothes or cologne, and this was a widely known part of what made the bar influential. Originally the Mineshaft occupied only the second floor; the club soon expanded into the first floor below, accessed by stairs in the back. The upper floor or bar (no alcohol was sold, for legal reasons) had a roof deck.
Promiscuity was celebrated at Mineshaft. Nudity or minimal clothing was encouraged, and a clothes check was provided. Areas were configured to encourage sex, including spaces designed to resemble a jail cell, the back of a truck, and dungeons; slings and cans of
Crisco (at the time popular among
gay men as a
sexual lubricant preceding modern
personal lubricant); spotlighted bathtubs in which men could let other men
urinate on them; The existence of the Mineshaft was widely known among gays who never visited; it has been called a "mythic[al]...space". The Mineshaft operated from October 8, 1976, until it was closed by the
New York City Department of Health on November 7, 1985, although tax problems played a significant role in its closing. It was New York's first gay club to close during the 1980s public health crackdown on gay clubs and bathhouses. After it closed, six men, associated with both the Mineshaft and an affiliated heterosexual club, the
Hellfire, were charged with a variety of crimes. Four pleaded guilty, former New York City police officer Richard Bell was convicted, and the sixth fled the country to escape prosecution. Wally Wallace donated the entirety of the Mineshaft's records, including artwork by Rex and
Al Shapiro, to the
Leather Archives and Museum in Chicago. ==Dress code==