yes! there's a really fascinating history here that I think parallels the current internet. Le Tigre actually sings about this briefly in their song "My Metrocard."
one manifestation of Giuliani’s quality-of-life crackdown was enforcement of rigid zoning rules that negatively impacted sex shops throughout New York, but particularly in Times Square. Under the premise of protecting children, hundreds of independent businesses were forced to close their doors (or completely revamp their operations), starting in 1995.
Of particular concern to Le Tigre, apart from the puritanism underlying these policies, was the job loss and deskilling that especially impacted women workers at these establishments. As the New York Times reported in 1998:
At least 23 topless bars and strip clubs have closed since Aug. 1, when the police carried out a highly publicized raid on Wiggles in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, making it the first casualty of Mr. Giuliani’s campaign to curtail the sex industry in New York severely. The Mayor, who has called adult establishments a threat to public “health, safety and welfare,” has vowed to shutter two dozen more by the end of the year. On Tuesday, a judge ordered four more closed in Queens.
But others say the sex industry jobs are irreplaceable, especially the estimated 3,500 dance jobs that, before the crackdown, provided the kind of income unavailable to many unskilled women. “These jobs are safe and for a lot of women, especially single mothers and those who haven’t had the opportunity to learn other bankable skills, there’s no legal work out there that pays as well,” said Juliette Widoff, director of outreach for Frost’D, (From Our Streets With Dignity) an organization that provides social services to sex industry workers.
Samuel Delany, the sci-fi author, also has a book called "Times Square Red, Times Square Blue" whcih chronicles the gentrification/disneyification of Times Square as it changed from an adult-oriented culture to a much more sanitized, class-segregated tourist hub.
origamiaround
tangentwithtanner
dailybridgerton
titsay
gummygunk
