Public health filter

June 22, 2008 4:15 PM

Where can i find free municipal NYC condoms in bars or locations in the city or in Brooklyn that are placed abundantly and in discreet locations?

I would like to grab a few (ok, stock up) but find that many locations have them by the door or the atm machine in order to advertise them. Can anyone list a bar they have been to that is a reliable source for these things so that i dont have to grab a handful on my way out and alert the room to my sexual habits. thanks! (bonus points for williamsburg or mid/low manhattan.)

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

here's a list of places with the free condoms, courtesy of the city—but honestly, it's new york city in the year 2008, no one gives a shit about your sexual habits, no one is going to look twice if you're in line at duane reade with a giant box of condoms or care if you go into babeland.
posted by lia at 4:34 PM on June 22, 2008

The good folks at Pacific Standard (4th Ave & St. Mark's) have a basket of condoms on the bar with a sign that reads something like, "Need a condom, take a condom. Have a condom, leave a condom... on second thought, just take one." Stop in for a beer and grab a handful.
posted by Frank Grimes at 6:05 PM on June 22, 2008

What, the room might find out that you have sex? If they thought about it at all, which they probably didn't, they already assumed it.
posted by happyturtle at 2:54 AM on June 23, 2008

I second all the above, plus, I have to say--those condoms are the worst ever. They break. Don't use 'em.
posted by CiaoMela at 6:37 AM on June 23, 2008

I disagree with CiaoMela. The condoms NYC uses are the LifeStyles brand, and I've never had one break on me.

Also, if the condoms are by the door, OP, just enjoy your night and grab a handful as you leave. No one will notice, and if they do, you're already gone.
posted by rmless at 8:06 AM on June 23, 2008

The problem is not the condoms, but how they are stored... and this directly relates to your question. I've seen a couple of places in Chelsea where they have a container of these condoms sitting directly by the front window. Fluctuations in temperature, and especially heat from the sun are not good for latex. So I would not pick up any condoms conveniently placed in a window as they may have degraded from improper storage.

But for sure, don't worry what other people think. Just take 'em and use em. Seriously, it's no big thang. Planned Parenthood on Bleeker can set you right up.
posted by kimdog at 9:14 AM on June 23, 2008