Daily News Article, Commenters, and 3rd Avenue

Yesterday's Daily News has an article that continues the titillating debate concerning the porn shops and peep shows (and Peyton's Playpen?) down on 3rd and 2nd Avenues. Brownstoner had its own blurb about the article yesterday, and of course that brought out the commenters club attempting to be clever.

Most of the comments were just having some goofy Friday fun with the topic. Others sympathized with Sunset Park's residents. And then there were several people who reacted as though the concerned citizens in SP were prudes or just idiots. The comments show ignorance of the area and its residents.

Among the misinformed statements were these:

exposing kids to things they shouldnt see? from the storefront, it just says 'midland video', as generic as any store. i doubt they have xxx material facing the sidewalk.

The photo Brownstoner happened to have in its archives is just one example of the score or so of shops. Besides, the shops are not all that the kids shouldn't see. The shops influence the sex trade on the streets, and some of the prostitutes are still out and about when children are going to school. Even more disturbing and sad is when you see a pimp abusing a woman right on the Avenue. There are several schools located between 4th and 3rd Avenue, and there are several playgrounds that look out onto 3rd Avenue. The remains of the night can also be found on the sidewalks.

another commenter:

Nobody walks on Third Avenue unless they work in those industrial buildings. They've been there for years and years with no complaints. I imagine they used to 'service' sailors off the piers there. As the piers are gone, there's still a large constituency of factory workers and what not near by.

Did you even read the article, or were you in such a hurry to get in on the frenzy of giggles that you skipped that step? Your romantic notions of who was "serviced" needs a little tweaking.

here is a taste of what you missed in the article:

A lawsuit over the city's sex industry dragged on for eight years before finally going to trial - allowing a glut of porn shops and peep shows to open in Sunset Park.

Residents charged in the suit the shops contribute to prostitution and keep the neighborhood from improving.

But the shops aren't breaking any laws because a city effort to regulate them has been tied up in court since 2001. The case went to trial in Manhattan Supreme Court this month.

In that time, the number of sex shops in Sunset Park has grown from a handful to about 25.

Apparently there WERE complaints years ago. Apparently more shops have been opening. Apparently Sunset Park gets to receive the fun times that more touristy and chic areas don't want. And guess what? People DO live on 3rd Avenue. And the numbered streets between 3rd and 4th DO have houses...not factories. That's close enough to be bothered by the activities these shops encourage. Also, your picture of a factory worker these days is probably far off the reality.

and another:

Generally speaking when I think about moving to a neighborhood, I go visit it first, so that I know if it's full of porn stores or not before deciding to move in.

Thanks for the advice, but most of the people who want the porn stores out have lived in Sunset Park longer than the influx of the high volume of stores. You also assume a certain monetary ability of choice in domicile. But I'm sure your comments will be helpful to many of the new-ish Park Slopers who complain about children and their parents, the Coop, and dog poop. They should have taken a look around the neighborhood too, I suppose.

Ugh. Sorry about the mini-rant. I have nothing against porn, but it irks me when people need to blab about something they obviously have no connection to and know very little about. Personally, I have nothing against pornography - if it involves consenting adults. But acting like it's not connected to less "innocent" pursuits that negatively affect quality of life and a place that many, many people call home is ridiculous.

Rally Against Sex as a Business

The Sunset Park Alliance of Neighbors held a rally and march, apparently to protest and draw attention to the liquor license application of Peyton's Playpen. CB 7 voted no, which they probably would have anyway (see second link below). Peyton's Playpen is place down on 2nd and 39th with a big sign that reads All Nude.

David Galarza, one of the most active members of SPAN, headed up the rally. One of the issue's supporters, and a life-long resident of Sunset, Trinity Lutheran Church's Reverend Sam Cruz, told the Brooklyn Eagle that he doesn't remember these stores from his early years, and he thinks it began to build up when Guiliani "cleaned up" Times Square. I'm not sure about those claims, but he does point out something I'm quite sure is true about the many sex/video shops in working class Sunset Park: "You don't see them doing this in Bay Ridge, and they wouldn't allow it in Park Slope."

Read the article in the Brooklyn Eagle here.

Also check out last week's post about this same issue.

And this one from October about related issues.

And this one from even before that about more related stuff.

Bay Ridge Fears Sunset's Prostitutes Will Visit

The Bay Ridge Rover highlights a pair of articles in this past week's Home Reporter and Sunset News (page 3) about the crackdown on prostitution on 3rd Avenue in the 50's. While he is much more amused by the uncomfortable juxtaposition of the main headline and the large color photo of a woman and a dog (no connection to the prostitution article), I was riveted by how the 72nd was attempting to ride the area of johns and hookers. From the article by Paula Katinas, here's a description of one high tech method:

Pintos [the relatively new 72nd Precinct Captain] arranged for the Police Department to place a camera onto a truck and park the truck on the street. The camera, called a “Sky Watch,” is attached to a pole that can extend from the truck some 25 feet into the air. From that perch, the camera can capture images on the ground for several blocks around, according to police. “Sky Watch” will be parked on the street for several days, Pintos says.

Will the photos of the johns be publicized? Will we be scandalized to find out who frequents 3rd Avenue's prostitutes?

A more disturbing issue - even more disturbing than the used condoms left about for residents to find and enjoy - was a mother's assertion that young girls and other female residents are solicited by johns in the morning while they are on their way to school or work. Those types of incidents have occurred on 3rd Avenue, mainly in the 50's. Especially considering the bus stops along 3rd Avenue and the playgrounds and schools nearby, that's just disgusting. Always have your camera ready, I say. These guys think they can say and do what they want from the safety of their cars, but cars have license plates. Well, they should, anyway.

According to Captain Pintos' response to a question at the last Community Council meeting, he will act on information provided about the johns - including license plate information.

The article directly underneath the "Prostitution Crackdown" article is also interesting. Apparently, CB 10 is concerned that if hookers leave Sunset, they'll travel right down 3rd Avenue to Bay Ridge. A legitimate concern, and perhaps it's something that the precincts and community boards can deal with together. Perhaps is just the tenor of the article, or maybe it's my knee-jerk defensiveness, but it almost sounded like the CB 10 Chair was disappointed that the issue was receiving attention in Sunset Park.

You can probably still pick up a copy of this issue around the neighborhood. I can't figure out how to post the PDF, but the link is on the above link to The Bay Ridge Rover's post.

Watch Where You Walk in Sunset Park

Yesterday's Daily News had an article about a Sunset Park resident, Monica Gonzalez, who was arrested for prostitution on her way to the Lutheran Medical Center. This occurred at about 2:30 AM back in November, but it's in the news now due to Gonzalez' complaint and suit regarding the case. The charges against her were dropped after she hired an attorney.

Commenters on the Daily News site wonder what Gonzalez was doing out at 2:30 AM by herself; they question her "true" motivation for being on 3rd Avenue. Well, for those who know the area, it's a four block walk to LMC (2nd and 55th) from Gonzalez' home on 53rd Street. She was "picked up" on 3rd Avenue between 53rd and 54th. Sounds like on the way to 55th Street to me. Not only that, but she was wearing a long winter coat. How many hookers do you see covering up? Also, Officer Spencer (the arresting officer) claimed that Gonzalez had been arrested before. Wrong. His partner even said, at the time of the arrest, that they should let her go and that he'd never seen her on the street before.

The bottom line is that a woman who lives in the neighborhood was out late and mistaken for a prostitute. The charges held despite her house address being local and a family home, an officer calling an ambulance from the precinct house (20 blocks from LMC, not four), and the arresting officer having a past with another suit for false arrest (involving another Latina, by the way).

Most cops (don't argue!) are good cops. However, there are some who will take advantage of vulnerable situations - just like any other group of people. Thankfully, this woman was able to hire a lawyer and have the charges against her dropped. Thankfully, it doesn't sound like she suffered any repercussions in her work-life (the actual one). Believe me, if a teacher had been in her place, that teacher would have been pulled out of the classroom and suffered truckloads of whispers and ridicule at work.