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Come Again
- Orgasm Rating
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- Address 353 E. 53rd St. (1st & 2nd Aves.) New York, NY
- Hours M-F: 11:30am-7:30pm; Sa: 11:30am-6:30pm; Su: 2-5pm
- Phone 212-308-9394
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Come Again is the type of place where frat boys buy crotchless panties for their girlfriends and women go to pick up gag gifts for their best friend's bachelorette party. Novelty items dominate the cramped L-shaped store which is home to all things penis-shaped: gummies ($6.95 per bag), water guns (mini-peepee for $3.95, $8.95 for a full schlong), pecker earrings that glow in the dark ($4.95 pair), and assorted corsages featuring, you guessed it, penises ($14.95 each). Water bottles, whistles, cake pans, ice cube trays, the list goes on. There's even a penile take on the arrow-through-the-head gag and a Groucho Marx mask with a priapic nose.
One retreat from this throng of dongs is the lingerie room, just off to the left as you enter the store. Two racks in the center of the room are jammed with a surfeit of overpriced and poorly made clothing (mostly nylon and polyester), including teddies and uniforms (nurse, belly dancer). All items are wrapped in protective plastic, like your grandmother's couch. Some racier vinyl items, open-crotch underwear, babydolls, can also be found. (I was after a red PVC bra but couldn't find anything larger than a C cup.) For men, you'll find G-strings featuring animal faces with elongated noses ($14.95 each).
At the back of the store there's a moderate selection of vibrators and dildos boxed and crammed into floor-to-ceiling shelves alongside blow-up dolls, model vaginas and anuses, penis pumps, plus cock rings, condoms, and lube. There are more vibrators behind the counter that can be tested out, but I didn't feel comfortable asking, having been followed around the store by a salesperson who kept repeating "May I help you?" in a suspicious tone as if I were a mall rat on a shoplifting mission. Meanwhile, another clerk chided a customer for flipping through the books, suggesting he make do with the descriptions on the back covers rather than crack the spines. That's too bad since the store's saving grace is its strong book selection. Come Again carries more than just pulp and porn for the boudoir bibliophile. I would dare to call it a miniature Strand, offering imported magazines, how-to guides, S&M and fetish titles, and erotica of many sub-genres (women's, gay, lesbian, bisexual, even Victorian). Best buys are in the sale bin, from which you can pick up retro pulp at four books for $10. Videos and DVDs can also be found in this area, though most are packed so tightly into bins it's difficult to browse.
For a sex shop, Come Again doesn't do much to promote an erotic ambiance. Between the suspicious staff and poorly displayed merchandise I found it difficult to get in the mood. The autographed glossies of female porn stars hanging on the walls reinforce the store's male slant and the S&M harnesses hanging alongside them appear to be more for show than for play. But give the store credit, it's been in business for 24 years and in this city, that's no easy feat.
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