Times Square in the mid 90's

Aug 19, 2023, 5:22 PM

Here's a cool 2022 article about how Times Square became "Disneyfied" in mid-1990's, using zoning laws "to break up the concentration of adult theaters, bars, and video stores in the Times Square/Forty-Second Street area and send them to the city’s fringes — far away from tourists."

The author of the article worked for the NYC Office of Midtown Enforcement. He describes the difficulties in codifying and implementing these zoning restrictions, and his story reminds me of the Supreme Court justice's famous response when asked to define obscenity: "I know it when I see it".

thebaffler.com

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woodstock2 years ago

Check out the HBO show Deuce; it's about what they were trying to clean up.

Rob11152 years ago

@JayTeeDee, Good article. I remember well Times Square of the 80's. It was the first time I watched live sex performed on stage in a theater. On one occasion I saw a law partner a few rows in front of me. I particularly liked Show World. On the third floor there was a live sex act with a mattress on the floor while guys sat around in folding chairs and jerked off (paper towels thoughtfully provided) In the basement there were tgurls who would walk around with their dicks out for guys to stroke for $5.00.

RTP2 years ago

Many years ago, I lived in NYC and had a customer who lived in another area of the country. This customer was very religious and when I visited him where he lived, we would have dinner with his family and we would hold hands and pray.

He came to see my company in NYC and told me he wanted to go see a live sex show. I was hesitant, but took him to Times Square and we found one. I thought it was disgusting, a dirty mattress, a young guy and girl f'ing a few feet from us. This went on for a while, maybe 30 minutes. It had an intermission or at least a break. I tried to talk the guy into leaving, no way. He wanted to stay.

A few months later, we were back at his house praying with his family. I guess one just never knows...