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Canadian Tourist's S&M Secrets, Spilled to the Post
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 13, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 13, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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If you're a 67-year-old retired math professor from Montreal and your wife (in Canada) finds out about your near-death S&M-related experience in New York City from a NY Post reporter, what do you do? Well, if you're Richard Benjamin, you give the Post an exclusive interview, landing on the front page and earning the headline "They Beat it Out of Me."
Benjamin, who used to teach at Vanier College, said that he's been secretly involved with S&M for many decades. In order to take trips for NYC's S&M clubs (while staying at a Y), he would claim he was visiting the city to take photographs and enjoy Brooklyn pizza: "My biggest fear has always been that someone would find out. That's why I come to New York and never do this in Montreal."
Benjamin spent three days in a coma after he slipped out of a high heel shoe - while a chain attached to his dog collared-neck was suspended from the ceiling at the Nutcracker Suite in Midtown - and almost choked to death. Benjamin told the Post:
"I don't want my wife to leave me, but I have to tell her the truth," he said. "I'm going to share everything with her. I think my family will forgive me."
Benjamin said he's desperately trying to break his addiction.
"It's like when you crave a turkey," he said. "You eat it and you eat it and you eat it, but you still want it. But now I've had enough. I don't want turkey anymore. I'm full."
...
"Now that I've almost died, I can't see myself going back to S&M," he said. "If you gave me $100,000 to spend there, I wouldn't. I'm not crazy."
Aw, poor guy. A Tango magazine article suggests "one in five couples dabble [in S&M], and one in 20 engage in very serious play."
And the Post called the Nutcracker Suite's dominatrix who was working with Benjamin - she was relieved to hear he was doing better: "Thank you very much for telling me."
Tagged
brooklyn
canada
city
coma
dog collar
midtown
montreal
new york
new york city
Nutcracker Suite
ny post
nyc
s&m
the city
tourism
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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