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U.S. NEWS Monday 7 august 2017

NYC’s long war on storefront porn reaches new tipping point

lishments around the city, of its floor space to the sex sections.
with then-mayor Rudy Giu- business. Some strip clubs The city argued that many
liani helping rout them out. divided themselves in two, of these tweaks were a
Times Square, where porn with part of the building sham.
parlors and strip clubs devoted to hosting private In 2001, the City Council
thrived into the 1990s amid events. One opened a su- altered zoning regulations
Broadway theaters, now shi restaurant on one of its to reduce the significance
bears little resemblance to floors. Adult DVD and book of the 60/40 test. Those
its old self. stores stocked up on titles changes, and others, were
But a few adult establish- that had nothing to do with the subject of the court rul-
ments remained, some be- sex, and which often gath- ing in June.
cause they found ways to ered dust. Others did less Dubno said she has asked
work around a rule defining to diversify, offering coat the state appeals court
a business as adult if it de- checks, pool tables or con- to reconsider its June
voted 40 percent or more doms in their “non-adult” decision.q

In this Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, photo, a man looks at a poster
in the window of Show World Center, one of Times Square’s last
surviving pornography businesses, in New York. The city’s two-
decade legal war on storefront businesses like this one may
have reached a new tipping point.
(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
By VERENA DOBNIK most tolerant city in the
Associated Press country, if not the world,”
NEW YORK (AP) — A dwin- the lawyer, Erica Dubno,
dling number of peep said. “And unfortunately,
shows, strip clubs and adult freedom of expression is
DVD stores have survived being restricted and small
New York City’s two-de- businesses are in jeopardy.”
cade legal war on smut Several dozen of the adult
and now, some of the sur- establishments are still hing-
vivors are worried a recent ing their hopes on free-
court decision could put dom-of-speech legal chal-
them under for good. lenges, she said.
In June, New York’s Court For now, there’s no urgen-
of Appeals reinstated rules cy to clear out. The city is
dating to 2001 barring any staying enforcement of
establishment with “live the court decision pend-
performances character- ing a resolution of the legal
ized by an emphasis on loose ends. In a statement,
certain specified ana- the New York City Law De-
tomical areas or specified partment said it believed
sexual activities” as well the city’s approach to
as sexually explicit videos regulating the businesses
from all but carefully se- was “reasonable and law-
lected city zones. It isn’t the ful to protect our quality
first time a court has sided of life” and were intended
with the city, only to have to stem “the widespread
the regulations tweaked circumvention of zoning
or overturned by another regulations.” New York’s
court later. But a lawyer well-known efforts to clean
who represents several X- up its once booming por-
rated shops said in an un- nography industry began
successful petition to the in the mid-1990s, with regu-
U.S. Supreme Court last lations barring adult busi-
month that if the city went nesses from operating near
ahead with long-delayed churches or schools and
enforcement, it could put in most commercial and
her clients out of business. residential neighborhoods.
“New York has the tradi- The rules shuttered many of
tion of being the freest and more than 170 such estab-