SEXIS WRONG

Courtesy of Plato’s Retreat Archive
Levenson and friends celebrate at Plato’s.
son quickly became known as “The King of Swing,” attracting
a loyal tribe of patrons, mostly unsophisticated, blue-collar
types, who lived in the outer boroughs. Levenson also caught
the attention of an organized-crime figure, who ordered him
to promptly shut down—or else. Fortunately for Levenson, Al
Goldstein came to his defense, delivering a scathing editorial
in Screw magazine on the Mafia’s attempt to monopolize the
nascent public-sex industry.
However, there were other troubles for Levenson. When
block associations learned of his antics, they promptly padlocked
his establishments and told him to get lost. Every few
weeks, Levenson was back on the road in his beat-up Valiant,
which was stuffed to the hilt with mattresses. Eventually,
Levenson found a home in the basement of Kenmore
Hotel, a tawdry venue on East 23rd Street. It was here that
Levenson became smitten. Mary, a thirty-something, statuesque
beauty was an unemployed restaurant muralist with
at least two daughters. Levenson felt that she needed him.
He needed her, as well. Well-spoken, Mary became quite apt
at articulating the allure of Plato’s for women. Levenson and
Mary swung. Then they moved in together.
At about this time, Howard Smith got a tip about the unusual
goings-on at the Kenmore. Smith was well aware of publicsex
establishments for gay men, but he had never heard of
this kind of locale for heterosexual couples. Skeptical, Smith,
with a date, went down to investigate. At the Kenmore, he
witnessed about a dozen-and-a-half out-of-shape, bridgeand-tunnel
types in various states of undress, including two
conspicuous men who wore nothing more than black shoes
with black socks. After scoping the scene, Smith introduced
himself to Levenson. “He was an innocent,” recalls Smith.
“He was a simple, nice guy in an insane, insane place.”
After Smith featured Levenson’s soirées in his Voice column,
the Kenmore immediately became a hotspot for hordes of hip,
Max’s Kansas City-types, as well as other types from toney
suburbs like Great Neck. Some of his small band of swingers
felt uncomfortable around the newcomers. Levenson, however,
embraced the novices. Swinging had given him a new
lease on life, and now he wanted everyone to experience
72 EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT SEX IS WRONG