Perfectly appointed socialites in cocktail garb could likely be found fingering snacks, free-flowing CBD treatments and each other as they observed erotic workshops and listened to music, the evening evolving from what felt like a high-end happy hour to something a little more riqsue. On any given pre-coronavirus night, visitors to NSFW’s Manhattan Clubhouse could expect to find anything from a sexually charged cocktail party to an all-out orgy happening in their sleek, well-stocked surroundings. Often referred to as the “ SoulCycle of sex ,” the education-heavy, cannabis-friendly club has earned a global reputation for the “ literal, not figurative star-fucking ,” that happens there, and has since become the de facto spot for Manhattan’s sexually liberal thirtysomethings to, as Harper’s Bazaar so eloquently put it, “smoke, fuck and chill.” The futuristic and entirely online affair - cheekily dubbed “Playdate: Lockdown Edition” - is an extension of the New Society for Wellness (NSFW), a high-end, curated and members-only “open love club” in NYC. The “digital sex party” I’m attending is about to begin. It’s early on a Friday night and I’m showered and made-up quarantine-style, top half groomed and bottom half lounging in secret sweatpants as I patiently gaze into the deep abyss of my laptop’s webcam.
