Memories of Times Square Past

[Lucky]

The Guardian today has a story of Times Square back when.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/nov/13/jane-dickson-interview-times-square-new-york

[BiBottomBoy]

What she doesn't realize is women are still working as dancers or escorts to pay the bills.

[AdamSmith]

Men too.

[BiBottomBoy]

Fair point AdamSmith

[hungry4dark]

It was so seedy but I miss it so much. Every major city has a red light district and nyc being the crossroads of the world should have one as well its stupid to force people to take their shit underground but they want the city to be as commercial as possible and that was the first thing they had to do something about. Smdh

[RockHardNYC]

11 hours ago, hungry4dark said:

It was so seedy but I miss it so much.

There are certain things I miss, but on the whole, it was getting too seedy and too ugly. For many, the area was not safe. On top of that, I have way too much respect for NY's theater community. They did not deserve to share their historic neighborhood with Mafia-run sex shops.

I have no problem with a red-light district, especially one that is safe and regulated. In NYC, that's an idea that may never see the light of day. Land is in demand, and there's only so much available space. With residential neighborhoods expanding to each river's edge, I don't see any Manhattan developer suggesting we need a row of sex shops here.

[MsGuy]

I don't know, Rocky. I imagine more than one aspiring actor paid the rent working nights on commission.

But I agree with your larger argument. Clearly if ho's, strippers and peep shows represented the economic highest and best use of the district, we wouldn't be talking about the good ol days before Disneyfication.

Personally I suspect you lost your last, best chance for a red light district when the do-gooders redeveloped the High Line as a park.

 

 

[RockHardNYC]

15 hours ago, MsGuy said:

I imagine more than one aspiring actor paid the rent working nights on commission.

Aspiring actors are a dime a dozen. Please name me one working actor who began his career hustling on 42nd Street.

15 hours ago, MsGuy said:

I suspect you lost your last, best chance for a red light district when the do-gooders redeveloped the High Line as a park.

About a decade before the High Line was built, Diane von Furstenberg and Jeffrey Kalinsky brought high-end fashion stores to the Meatpacking District. Those acquisitions sealed the fate of the neighborhood long before anyone thought of the High Line.