It's been a long time since I sessioned regularly in dungeons, but from my perspective the '80s and '90s in NYC were special. It was right before real estate prices took off into the stratosphere and there were plenty of loft spaces (to rent) or brownstones (to buy or rent) that were available.
One of the best was Mistress Tara Indiana's Den of Iniquity that opened in I think in the early '90s. The first location was on West 17th or 18th Street off of 8th Avenue and was a brownstone. The first floor, really the basement, was the reception area and a dark English bedroom/playroom, and an inside staircase to a couple of rooms upstairs. I sessioned with Paige - not Mistress Paige, just her first name - a founding member of the dungeon according to Mistress Tara. Paige had the Bettie Page haircut and that hot "girl next door" look, except she was Amazonian, busty and built like an athlete, especially in leopard print. After the first session we spoke and in college she played fast pitch softball and did some track. The second session was in the basement English bedroom, featuring low lighting, a bondage chair and a leopard bedspread. Seeing Paige in a leopard print bikini on that matching bedspread still haunts me.
I guess a couple of years later Den of Iniquity moved to a loft space and I had two sessions in a room that had a mix of mad scientist meets BDSM. A steel examination table with bondage equipment; St. Andrew's Cross; mirrors; I think some wigs, etc. for cross dressing; maybe some antique medical equipment; a small old sink for hand washing; and my favorite, a steel cage. First session there was with a tall, intimidating Indian Mistress (could have been Queen Delilah) who threw "tarzan" into that cage, locked the door and dared him to bend the bars to get out. (While I was a lot stronger and younger then, and the bars gave a bit, the Mistress just laughed, opened the door and she "experimented" with the jungle slave.)
The second time I visited there was a visiting dominatrix with an English accent based in NJ who was going to go back home to the UK for a visit. Alas, I have forgotten her name, but she was probably over 50, very dignified, blonde and curvy. We did the "tarzan" thing and I had low expectations. Was I wrong. She got into it. I was hand spanked for being a peeping Tarzan, put in bondage on the table and then... a lot of things were on the table, using me in a lot of creative ways. When we were done I asked to go to the bathroom to clean up. She said, "Do it here," pointing to the small sink and began stare at me as she asked about my experience and how I got into the scene. As I left she said to me, "I'll see you when I get back," not as a request but an order. However I never did see an ad for her again.
As for Mistress Tara, we exchanged emails back then and in the past couple of years when she was forming a Dominatrix Hall of Fame, but I never had the pleasure of meeting her. My loss. She did know how to design a dungeon!
