Democrat state Sen. Erik Bottcher of New York and Democratic Assemblymember Tony Simone recently introduced the Public Health Modernization Act. The regulation was enforced primarily by city health inspectors and ultimately contributed to the closure or transformation of New York City’s gay bathhouse spaces, according to the New York Times. According to 2021 reporting by the Advocate, Fauci told NPR that he visited bathhouses in New York’s Greenwich Village during the early years of the epidemic. “We live in a completely different public health landscape today.” According to the Advocate, Fauci said his visits to bathhouses and gay bars helped him understand the environment in which HIV was spreading.