Dominatrix Says Angry Neighbor Forcing Her From Bed-Stuy Dungeon

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn dominatrix is being forced out of her Bed-Stuy dungeon by neighbors who object to her business, which she says is law-abiding and provides a safe space for people who need it.

“It’s been terrifying,” said Charlotte Taillor, who says she must find a new home for The Taillors after a Quincy Street neighbor mounted a campaign against it. “Everyone has cried over this.”

Taillor can no longer pay rent on the Bed-Stuy space she spent $14,000 transforming into a school of domination and kink after the outraged neighbor scared away the dominatrices, instructors, advocates and lecturers Taillor employs, she said.

“I’m a gay immigrant, I’ve heard a lot of s---,” said Taillor, who hails from Brazil. “But what she says, it hurts.”

Patch was unable to reach the neighbor for comment, and so will not publish her name. But in a letter, left outside Taillor's front door in February, the woman wrote the organization made her "feel unsafe and a prisoner" in her home and neighborhood.

"Your business and the characters that come to be serviced at your S&M kinky fetish business do create problems for me," the neighbor wrote. "I must barricade myself inside and feel anxiety every time I leave or come home."

Many of Taillor's employees quit because they feared coming into contact with the woman, said Taillor. One instructor, who identifies as non-binary, said they’d never come back after hearing the woman use anti-gay language.

“People have this as their livelihood,” said Taillor. ”

Screen shots from social media posts show neighbors objected to Taillor's clientele and accused her of running a "gentlemen's sex club." City records show those complaints were also made to the Department of Buildings, which were forward to the NYPD.

But Taillor's attorney, Cary London, argued the dungeon does not break New York City law because the dominatrices do not engage in sexual acts and the business does not have a storefront or affect traffic flow on the block.

London also noted 79th Precinct police did not pursue charges after they became aware of the dungeon.

“Even though is it’s completely legal it’s still not accepted in the community,” said London. “Which is a shame, because it’s 2019.”

And Taillor argues the dungeon provides services beyond those of its dominatrices, who meet with paying submissives, or subs, to do whatever their imaginations and the law allows. Yes — there are kink workshops to explore foot fetishes, spanking and sissification — but also lectures on feminism and free self-defense classes.

“[It’s] like a little commune with a dungeon downstairs,” she said “We give to the community … No deli does half of what we do.”

But Taillor has decided to leave, two months after she signed her lease, because she does not want to force neighbors to accept her business.

“We need to move the f--- out, that’s all we have to do,” Taillor said. There’s only one problem, she said; “We have no money.”

Which is why she’s launched a GoFundMe and a Fundrazr to raise the cash she’ll need to move her mahogany throne, suspension rig, velvet curtain and thousands of dollars in sex toys to a new location. Any additional funds will go to the nonprofits GLSEN and the Sharmus Outlaw Advocacy and Rights Institute, Taillor said.

Meanwhile Quincy Street residents have organized a community meeting to discuss The Taillors at the Macedonia Church of Christ at 289 Quincy St., slated for Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.

The flier was posted to local Facebook group BedStuy Friends, where residents posted comments on the meeting and Taillor’s business.

“This is on my block, and what I heard from people in the building is that they are running a business out of a private apartment,” said one resident. “If it were private, that’s one thing. But that’s not the case.”

Wrote another, “As long as they are participating in safe and consensual behavior it is really no ones business."

“This is horrible that a community would shame people for what they enjoy. If it is not your bag of tea .. leave it.”