The West Village S&M Leather Invasion

So, like, are we the only ones who remember the days when New York City's West Village and Meatpacking District were trannie hooker and blatino hustler central? All those fun places like the Lure and Hellfire? You'll forgive us if our memory is a bit hazy (it wasn't that long ago, and we didn't do that many drugs)—but things have changed so much that it's hard to remember the way things used to be. So we're glad that there's still the occasional event like the West Village Leather Street Festival to remind us of the good old days. The outdoor street festival attracted the usual complement of pearl-clutching onlookers ("How am I supposed to explain to my 8-year-old daughter what's going on?" one woman was quoted as saying), but according to one organizer the emphasis was really on "the history and the heritage of the leather movement": "We are not going to hurt anybody. Unless they want to be hurt, of course."

· New York Leather Weekend (newyorkleatherweekend.com)
· "S&M Festival a Slamming Good Time" (report and gallery @ amny.com)
· "Leather Invaders Rankle Some Villagers" (nymag.com)
· Thumbnail via West Village Leather Street Fest (photos by istolethetv @ Flickr)