New York lawmakers have introduced legislation that would repeal the state's existing prohibitions on adult saunas and pave the way for licensing and operating these spaces. State health regulations adopted in 1985 prohibited adult saunas. New York City relied on those regulations to close the city's gay bathhouses the following year during the AIDS epidemic. Despite opposition from some LGBTQ+ advocates and business owners, then-Mayor Ed Koch directed city health inspectors, including some working undercover, to enforce the new regulations. Bottcher and Assemblymember Tony Simone's bill, dubbed the Public Health Modernization Act, would establish a licensing framework for adult saunas.