Erogenous Zones

New York porn shops say goodbye to Broadway.

Todd Seavey from the March 1997 issue

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Speaking of unintended consequences, the ordinance could actually be a boon for some porn merchants. Gretchen Dykstra says Richard Basciano, king of Times Square porn and one of Fahringer's clients, is "sitting on a gold mine" because he owns a lot of real estate in the area and stands to benefit from the expected influx of investment. And she thinks Basciano would be happy to see a lower concentration of porn shops. "He doesn't want competition," she says.

Who does? "Personally, I think the best places will survive and the others will go," says John Wilson, manager of the Big Top Lounge, a topless bar on Eighth Avenue. Big Top features a Hug 'n' Squeeze room in which customers can have close encounters with employees, a feature Wilson says is "similar to a '60s slow dance." Wilson is not troubled by the government's desire to limit the proliferation of adult entertainment establishments-- which have increased by more than a third in New York since 1984--but he wishes the city wouldn't drive out established businesses such as his. "Times Square should be the Mecca of New York," he says. "I happen to agree with that, but I think they should grandfather in the places already here."

Most store operators are similarly hoping they can stay put. The owner of Manhattan Video on West 39th Street is contemplating shifting his stock toward female wrestling movies and fetish films that feature activities such as spanking and foot licking. While kinky, such films are not pornographic according to the city's precise anatomical definition.