2. INTRODUCTION

 

Study Objectives

 

The Department of City Planning undertook a study to evaluate the nature and extent of adverse impacts associated with adult entertainment uses in other localities and in New York City. The study responds to concerns of city residents, businesses, and elected officials about the proliferation of adult entertainment establishments in various parts of the city. The issues posed by adult uses are complex, and often involve speech or conduct protected by the federal and New York State constitutions. Any regulation must be based on a careful analysis of past, present and potential adverse impacts of adult uses upon the quality of life in the city's neighborhoods, as well as the effects of possible regulatory solutions upon protected speech.

 

This study includes (1) a survey of existing studies concerning the impacts of adult entertainment establishments and of regulation of such establishments in other localities; (2) a description of the adult entertainment business in New York City; (3) a review of studies and reports on adult entertainment establishments in New York City; (4) a DCP survey of the impacts such establishments have on communities in the City; and (5) a set of overall findings and recommendations.

 

 

Definition of Adult Entertainment Establishments

 

There is a vast array of businesses that may be considered "adult." These include video and bookstores, motels, massage parlors, sex clubs, topless and bottomless or nude bars (not all of which serve alcohol), and peep shows. Materials may include sexually explicit videos or magazines. Services may include body rubs, or entertainment such as nude dancing.

 

For purposes of the DCP survey, an adult entertainment establishment is a commercial use that defines itself as such through exterior signs or other advertisements. Thus, a "triple-X or XXX" video store is an adult entertainment establishment, but a neighborhood video store that devotes a small area to triple-X videos is not. This self-defining characteristic allowed the survey to focus on those establishments for which there is some consensus that the use is adult. It also means that it is possible to obtain adult entertainment materials, such as videos and magazines, at establishments that sell primarily non-adult materials and that some businesses that are devoted to adult entertainment but do not publicly proclaim the fact were not included in the DCP survey. The survey was further restricted to three types of such uses: adult video and bookstores, adult live or movie theaters, and topless or nude bars. Other uses directly associated with the commercialization of sex, such as massage parlors or brothels (which are not permitted in New York City), and sex clubs, as well as some of those uses indirectly associated with the commercialization of sex such as discos, motels, newsstands, and candy stores that sell some adult magazines, were excluded from the study.

 

The term "adult use" is technically defined differently from municipality to municipality, but generally refers to a commercial establishment that purveys materials or services of a sexual nature. For example, both the City of Boston, Massachusetts, and the Town of Islip, New York, classify adult book stores to mean those that exclude minors by reason of age. Other cities such as Detroit and Los Angeles classify adult uses on the basis of the content of the materials shown or the types of activities that may be found in adult establishments; the uses emphasize "specified sexual activities" or "specified anatomical areas." A movie theater generally showing adult films is an example of such a use.

 

4. STUDIES AND REGULATIONS IN OTHER LOCALITIES

 

Impacts Found in Other Localities

 

DCP reviewed impact studies from the following municipalities: Islip (NY), Los Angeles (CA), Indianapolis (IA), Whittier (CA), Austin (TX), Phoenix (AZ), Manatee County (FL), New Hanover County (NC), and the State of Minnesota.

 

lslip, New York

 

The Town of Islip completed a study of adult uses in September, 1980. The study formed the basis of new zoning provisions that allowed adult uses only in Industrial I Districts, by special exception of the Board of Appeals. Adult uses would not be allowed to locate within 500 feet of residential uses and public facilities, nor would they be permitted to locate within one half-mile of another adult use. Islip proposed the one-half mile requirement to prevent a concentration of sex businesses visible to the driving public, thereby hindering the creation of a "combat zone."

 

By limiting adult uses to certain industrial zones, Islip proposed to prevent "skid row effects" in declining downtown commercial areas. The proposal was expected to further other anti-skid row efforts such as new public investment, the prohibition of certain residential conversions, and restrictions on new bars. It was also formulated to prevent "dead zones" from developing in commercial areas. According to the study, these areas are avoided because shoppers do not want to be associated in any way with adult uses, or have their children walk by adult uses.

 

Citing its case study, Islip indicated that the main complaint about a given adult book store is its proximity to an adjoining residential area. Other impacts included parking in residential areas (store patrons may wish to "hide" their automobile from view by parking away from the adult establishment). The study, relying on newspaper articles, indicated that another impact is the reputed association of the adult book store operators with organized crime.

 

Islip's study stated that persons who protested the establishment of the book store feared retaliation: "…the potential for violence or other illegal behavior is clearly possible."

 

The individual site analyses identified similar impacts found in the case study. Some establishments were located close to residential areas, causing uncharacteristic parking impacts, night-time activity, noise and dust. Other establishments located in declining downtown areas created dead zones or discouraged shoppers from walking in pedestrian-oriented commercial areas.

 

Los Angeles, California

 

In 1977, the Los Angeles City Planning Department completed a study of adult uses for the Planning Committee of the City Council. The study was intended to determine whether a concentration of adult establishments has a blighting or degrading effect on nearby properties and/or neighborhoods. The study provided a basis for zoning regulations adopted the following year that prohibited adult entertainment businesses within 1,000 feet of another such business or within 500 feet of any religious institution, school or public park. More restrictive provisions were added subsequently.

 

Police Department statistics indicated a greater proportion of certain crimes in Hollywood (where the largest concentration of adult establishments is found in the city) compared with the city as a whole.

 

Other impacts could be traced to public perceptions. The study examined public testimony and found that many people, particularly the elderly, were afraid to walk the streets in Hollywood. Others had expressed concern that children were being exposed to sexually explicit materials and unsavory persons. Some businesses were no longer remaining open in the evenings and others had left the area allegedly directly or indirectly because of the establishment of adult businesses. Some churches in Hollywood were driving the elderly to services and others were providing private guards in their parking lots.

 

A survey of real estate professionals indicated that the concentration of adult establishments had an adverse economic effect on the value of commercial and residential property. Business persons believed that the quality of life and business was adversely affected by litter, graffiti, difficulty in recruiting employees and retaining and attracting customers. Also noted was difficulty in renting office space and keeping desirable tenants.

 

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

The Indianapolis Division of Planning undertook a study, published in 1984, to determine if zoning controls were warranted for adult entertainment businesses. The study recommended that adult uses should be allowed only by special exception in commercial districts oriented beyond a neighborhood, and not within 500 feet of a residential, school, church or park property line, or historic area.

 

The Indianapolis study analyzed crime data, including sex crimes, and real estate data, including a national survey of real estate appraisers. The study cautions that the analyses should not be construed as conclusively proving a causal relationship between adult uses and increased crime or decreased property values. However, the study found that major crimes occurred in study areas that contained at least one adult entertainment establishment at a rate that was 23 percent higher than six control areas (similar areas but without adult establishments), and 46 percent higher than the Indianapolis Police District. The average sex-related crime rate per 10,000 population in the control areas over a five-year period was 26.2, while that rate for the study areas was 46.4.

 

A survey of real estate professionals was undertaken in conjunction with the Indiana University School of Business' Division of Research. It consisted of a 20 percent random sample of nationwide members of the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers and a 100 percent sample of Member Appraisers Institute members who practiced in 22 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) of a size similar to Indianapolis.

 

The appraisers were asked to give their "best professional opinion" about property values in a hypothetical situation where an adult bookstore was about to locate in a middle-income, residential neighborhood. A majority of appraisers (75%) responding to the national survey thought that an adult bookstore located within one block would have a negative effect on the value of both residential (80%) and commercial (72%) properties. At a distance of three blocks, 71 percent thought that the impact of an adult bookstore fell off sharply so that the impact was negligible on both residential (64%) and commercial (77%) properties.

 

Whittier, California

 

In 1978, the City of Whittier, citing "operational characteristics which may have a deleterious effect on immediately adjacent residential and commercial areas," defined and regulated adult uses through a conditional use permit. The urgency measure was based on the Detroit dispersal model, pending a planning study of adult businesses and subsequent legislation, if necessary. The purpose of the study and eventual legislation was to protect adjacent commercial and residential districts within the City from the "possible blighting or downgrading effect of adult businesses" although the study cautioned, however, that adult businesses were only one of a variety of factors influencing the study areas.

 

The study found higher turnover rates in commercial and residential areas adjacent to adult uses. A compilation of police statistics indicated that all of the nude model studios and three massage parlors were actively involved in prostitution and that a number of assaults and thefts had occurred on the premises. There were also numerous reports of excessive noise, drunkenness and pornographic litter connected to adult businesses. A comparison of 38 types of criminal activity between two time periods, 1970-73 and 1974-77, showed a total increase of 102 percent for the study area containing adult businesses while the city, as a whole, only had an eight percent increase. Citizens testified at several public hearings about their fears of walking on nearby streets, of their children being confronted by offensive individuals or exposed to sexually explicit material, and some reported that businesses had left the area. The report discussed the difficulty of assessing the moral and emotional impact of adult businesses on a neighborhood but suggested that it could be gauged by community outrage.

 

The study concluded that the prolonged concentration of adult businesses adversely impacts neighborhoods, based on experiences in other municipalities, and recommended the regulation of a variety of defined sexually-oriented businesses by locational restrictions within portions of industrial areas and shopping centers subject to a conditional use permit.

 

Austin, Texas

 

In 1986, the City of Austin conducted a study to provide a factual basis for the development of a new ordinance regulating adult-oriented businesses.

 

The study analyzed crime rates, comparing areas with adult businesses to other areas containing similar land uses but no adult businesses. The results were that the sex-related crime rate was between two and five times greater in the areas with adult businesses. The study also showed that the sex-related crime rate was 66 percent higher in areas having two or more adult businesses than in those areas having only one such business. The study included a survey of 120 real estate brokers and appraisal firms. The results showed that 88 percent of the respondents believed the presence of an adult business would decrease property values of residential property within a one-block radius and 69 percent felt an adult use would reduce the value of commercial property within the same radius.

 

Phoenix, Arizona

 

In 1979, the Planning Department of Phoenix designed a study to determined if there was a relationship between arrests for sex crimes and the locations of adult businesses. The number of property crimes, violent crimes and sex-related crimes in 1978 were compared for three study areas containing adult businesses and three otherwise similar control areas that did not contain adult businesses.

 

There was a significantly greater difference between the study and control areas for sex-related crimes than for property or violent crimes: an overall increase of six times the sex crime rate in the study areas over the control areas. Although more than half of the arrests for sex crimes were for indecent exposure, the remainder of sex crimes remained significantly high. In one study area with a concentration of adult businesses and the highest number of reported sex crimes for the areas studied, 89 percent of the reported indecent exposure cases were committed at the addresses of the adult businesses. When compared to its control area, the sex crime rate (per 1,000 residences) for that study area, was over 11 times greater; in the remaining two study areas, which each contained one adult business, the sex crimes rate was four times and almost three times as great as the comparable control areas.

 

Minnesota

 

In 1988, the Attorney General of Minnesota formed a Working Group on the Regulation of Sexually-Oriented Businesses to review data presented by various jurisdictions within the state.

 

In 1980, the Minneapolis Crime Prevention Center examined the effects of sexually-oriented businesses upon property values and crime rates. The study concluded that such businesses concentrate in areas which are relatively deteriorated but, at most, they may slightly contribute to the continued depression of property values. However, it was clear that sexually-oriented businesses had a strong negative impact on the crime rate. The addition of one sexually-oriented business to a census tract area caused an increase in the overall crime rate index in that area by slightly more than nine percent per 1,000 people/year.

 

In 1978, the St. Paul Division of Planning and the Minnesota Crime Control Planning Board conducted a joint study of the relationship between adult uses and neighborhood blight. They found a statistically significant correlation between the location of adult businesses and neighborhood deterioration, although adult businesses tend to locate in somewhat deteriorated Housing values were significantly lower in an area with three adult businesses than in an area with only one adult business. There was a significantly higher crime rate associated with two adult businesses in an area than was associated with only one adult business in an area.

 

Manatee County, Florida

 

The Planning and Development Department of Manatee County undertook a study to investigate the impact of a proposed adult entertainment ordinance. The study recommended that adult uses be limited to commercial locations at least 500 feet from a residential district and 2,000 feet from churches, schools, child care facilities and public recreation areas. Also, no adult establishment should be located within 1,000 feet of another such use.

 

Manatee County relied on studies of other cities to identify the likely impacts of adult entertainment establishments. In addition to those of Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles and Indianapolis, studies from the following cities were reviewed: Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; Saint Paul, Minnesota; Amarillo, Texas; and, Beaumont, Texas. Impacts found in these studies included a relatively high incidence of crime including sex-related crimes, declining neighborhood conditions, a statistically significant decrease in residential property value when more than two adult bars were found in an area, increased glare, noise, and traffic, and a decline of neighborhood-oriented businesses.

 

Among the study recommendations, Manatee County notes:

 

The sign is often the most notable physical element of an adult entertainment business. Adult entertainment signs should be controlled to protect the general public from the negative aesthetics of "poor-taste." Sign controls should be considered which still protect a business's freedom to advertise, but also minimize public's exposure to such uses.

 

New Hanover County, North Carolina

 

In July, 1989, the New Hanover County Planning Department published a study in support of proposed zoning text amendments designed to control the location of adult entertainment businesses. The one or two adult businesses located in the County had not generally been a problem; the proposed zoning regulations were considered preventative.

 

New Hanover, like Manatee County, relied on studies of other cities to predicate its proposed zoning text amendments. Potential adverse impacts from adult uses and adult uses in concentration could be anticipated, according to the report, based on studies completed in Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Beaumont, Phoenix, Amarillo, and others. Those impacts have been identified in the discussion, above.

 

 

Regulations in Other Localities

 

In communities throughout the United States, adult entertainment uses have appeared recently within or close to stable residential areas, leading many communities to adopt rules placing locational and other restrictions on these uses. In the New York metropolitan area, many Long Island communities (Islip, Brookhaven, Smithtown, Babylon, and Huntington, among others) have enacted zoning regulations that restrict the location and operation of adult businesses. In general, these restrictions attempt to protect residential and commercial areas by allowing adult uses only in low-visibility industrial districts.

 

In St. Petersburg, Florida, the city's 1993 adult entertainment ordinance restricts adult uses to a handful of locations in the city and forces existing adult businesses to move within a year's time. In communities around Atlanta, Georgia, new nude dancing operations now require a rezoning and are prohibited within 1,000 feet of residences and community facilities. Orange County, California, requires a special permit for topless dancing clubs. In Jackson, Mississippi, a 1992 ordinance restricts topless bars and other adult businesses to areas zoned for light industrial uses and requires distances ranging from 250 to 1,000 feet from residential uses and community facilities. In San Diego, California, adult entertainment is not permitted within 500 feet of a school or home or within 1,000 feet of another adult entertainment use. Los Angeles enacted a similar ordinance in 1988. Seattle, Washington, recently enacted an ordinance restricting adult stores to manufacturing zones 1,000 feet away from churches, residential areas, schools and play grounds.

 

DCP relied on a variety of sources, including the Planners Advisory Service of the American Planning Association, to obtain information about how other cities regulate adult entertainment establishments. The Manhattan Borough President's office supplied information obtained from the National League of Cities, and information that they culled for the Borough President's Task Force on Sex-Related Businesses. Although some of the referenced material used herein may be dated, and the cities may have adopted more recent regulations, the purpose is to illustrate differences in regulatory strategies.

 

Essentially, two types of zoning regulations have been developed to control adult entertainment establishments. The control techniques include the concentration of adult uses in a specified location, and the dispersal of adult uses apart from one another. Dispersal models often exclude adult uses from areas in proximity to residential districts while also limiting their concentration where they are permitted. Concentration models are guided by regulations developed for Boston, Massachusetts; dispersion models follow the Detroit, Michigan ordinance. The Detroit dispersal model has been used more often than the Boston concentration model to control the location of adult entertainment establishments.

 

 

 

 

CONCENTRATION MODELS

 

Boston, Massachusetts

Boston established a two-block "adult entertainment district" in a downtown area known as the "combat zone," where approximately ninety percent of adult uses in the city were concentrated. The purpose of the district was to prevent the spread of adult uses to other areas of the city. Under the Boston zoning code, an adult entertainment district may be established as an overlay district superimposed upon existing zoning districts.

 

The overlay district allows adult entertainments and bookstores that are characterized as such because they "exclude minors by reason of age." According to information provided by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, adult use operators will prohibit attendance by minors in order to avoid violating the Massachusetts obscenity law. The overlay district allows the use of moving or flashing lights prohibited elsewhere in the city, and generally has fewer restrictive sign regulations compared with other Boston districts. Outside the overlay district, preexisting adult establishments may continue unless they have been abandoned for at least two years.

Seattle, Washington, and Camden, New Jersey

 

Seattle and Camden have developed zoning regulations generally following the Boston model of concentrating adult uses in one or more specified areas of the city. Seattle allows adult motion picture theaters in only three business and commercial districts. Non-conforming adult theaters must be discontinued. Camden has set aside a single area of the city where adult uses are permitted. Camden believes such a strategy will facilitate the city's ability to police adult establishments.

 

 

DISPERSAL MODELS

Detroit, Michigan

 

In 1972, Detroit amended its "anti-skid row" zoning ordinance, which prohibited concentrations of certain uses, to include adult theaters, mini-theaters, bookstores and cabarets, characterized by "specified sexual activities" or "specified anatomical areas." Detroit enacted the skid row regulations after a study indicated that the concentration of these businesses "tends to attract an undesirable quantity and quality of transients, adversely affects property values, causes an increase in crime, especially prostitution, and encourages residents and businesses to move elsewhere."

 

Not more than two adult businesses may be located within 1,000 feet of each other or within 500 feet of a residential area. The Detroit ordinance allowed a waiver of the 1,000 foot regulation upon certain findings by the Zoning Commission; the 500 foot

requirement is not subject to the waiver provisions. The Detroit ordinance applied

only to prospective uses.

 

Atlanta, Georgia, and Kansas City, Missouri

 

Atlanta prohibits adult bookstores, theaters and entertainment establishments from locating within 1,000 feet from any other such use. Adult uses may not be located within 500 feet of residential uses or houses of worship. An original amortization provision was amended subsequently to apply solely to bath houses and to comply with a judicial decision.

 

In Kansas City, adult bookstores, motion picture theaters, bath houses, massage shops, modeling and body painting studios may be located only in certain commercial districts, over which an overlay is placed. The adult uses may not locate within 1,000 feet of a residence district or a house of worship or school. No more than two uses may be located within 1,000 feet of each other. A petition of consent by a majority of residents or property owners within 1,000 feet of the proposed use may be made to the City Plan Commission to waive the restrictions on location.

 

Los Angeles, California

 

The Los Angeles ordinance regulates adult arcades, bookstores, cabarets, motels, motion picture theaters, adult theaters, massage parlors, and sexual encounter establishments. These establishments are characterized by their emphasis on specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

 

The ordinance prohibits the establishment of an adult entertainment business within 1,000 feet of another such business or within 500 feet of any religious institution, school or public park. Los Angeles determined that adult uses, in concentration, result in blighting conditions.

 

A 1984 amendment to the ordinance added that an adult entertainment business may not be located within 500 feet of any lot in an agricultural or residential zone, or within "limited commercial" zones, unless approved by exception. No more than one adult use may be located within any building containing another adult entertainment business.

 

Town of lslip, New York

 

Islip's ordinance is noteworthy in that it has been the subject of litigation reviewed by the New York Court of Appeals. Islip defines adult uses to include adult bookstores, drive-in theaters, cabarets, motels, theaters, massage establishments, and peep shows. As in Boston, adult uses are characterized by their exclusion of minors by reason of age.

 

The zoning ordinance restricts the location of adult uses to light industrial districts by special exception of the Zoning Board of Appeals. Adult uses are allowed as-of-right in Industrial Districts, and prohibited from locating within 500 feet of any area zoned for residential use, or any school, park or house of worship. In addition, an adult use may not be located within a one-half mile radius of another such use. These restrictions may be waived based on findings that the proposed use will have no negative impacts. No more than one adult use may be located on any lot. The Islip ordinance also contained amortization provisions for uses, which became non-conforming.

 

Chicago, Illinois

 

Chicago also follows the Detroit dispersal model for regulating the location of adult entertainment establishments. However, in 1977, Chicago established a licensing requirement for all adult use businesses.

 

One of the primary purposes of this regulation was to prevent or limit the involvement of organized crime or other syndicates in the operation of adult-use establishments. The license application requires the prospective adult use operator to provide a great deal of personal and financial information. If the establishment is to have a manager, a separate manager's statement must also be filed.

 

The prospective operator of a sex-related business is also required to sign an affidavit attesting to those activities that will occur at his or her establishment. If, for example, the applicant signs an affidavit saying his or her business will be an adult-use book store and it is later determined that a "mini motion picture theater" is also operating at the site, the license can be revoked.

 

5. THE ADULT ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

 

Industry Trends

 

Adult entertainment is a multi-billion dollar, international industry that includes an ever changing and expanding range of activities. The latest additions to the industry include phone-sex lines, international computer networks that offer sexually explicit messages, lingerie modeling shops, and "upscale" topless bars or strip clubs catering to businessmen.

 

It is difficult to obtain data on adult use organizations -- they often consist of a maze of smaller companies that operate retail or service businesses, or distributorships. Linkages have been reported between sexually-oriented businesses and organized crime. Although it has experienced some significant changes in recent years, by most accounts the industry is booming in the United States. The tremendous growth in adult video sales and rentals and the resulting decline in the number of adult movie theaters is one significant change in the industry over the last ten years. Another is the entry of lower-end triple-X video entrepreneurs whose operations have recently emerged in many New York City neighborhoods.

 

Adult Video Sales and Rentals

 

As documented in recent newspaper and magazine articles, adult video sales and rentals are a segment of the industry that has experienced significant growth since 1980. Industry insiders contend that despite a 1986 Reagan Administration "all-out campaign" against pornography, "the number of adult-video makers and their videotapes has risen, cheap amateur videos have proliferated and the industry has expanded beyond magazines and videos to computer networks." One trade monthly, Adult Video News, reported adult video sales and rentals in general interest video stores have soared 75% since 1991 to $2.1 billion last year, and by hundreds of millions more if adult-only outlets are included. Thus, adult publications and videos are readily available at newsstands, general video stores and other outlets that are not characterized as adult entertainment establishments for purposes of DCP's study.

 

Concurrent with the growth in adult video is a decline in the number of adult movie theaters. The Adult Film Association of America recently estimated that the number of adult movie theaters across the United States had declined from 800 in 1979 to about 50 in 1990. The estimate appears low considering the number of adult movie theaters located in New York City alone.

 

The growth in the adult video sales and rentals segment of the adult industry is directly related to the increasing availability of inexpensively produced triple-X videocassettes that have flooded the market in recent years. Adult video producers have cut costs dramatically by shooting on videotape rather than film, shooting for fewer days, cutting the length of scripts, using cheaper sets, and slashing production budgets. Performers' salaries, even for top stars, have dropped steadily from more than $1,000/day five years ago to as low as $100/day. Adult Video News estimates that in 1983, eight percent of the releases were shot on videotape, with the balance shot on film. Last year, 97 percent of the releases were shot on videotape. The Adult Video Association contends that cost cutting by producers of adult home videos has caused the price of a triple-X videocassette to plunge from $100 a few years ago to as low as $5 today.

 

Despite criticism that the latest entrepreneurs in the sex industry are delivering an inferior product, demand for their products appears to remain strong. One Los Angeles-based company, Evil Angel Productions, is typical of the latest producers of cheap adult videos. The company grossed $34,000 in 1990 when it produced and released eight tapes. In 1993, the company grossed $1 million by shooting, manufacturing and distributing a new hard-core videotape every three weeks. Sales for another Hollywood-based price-cutter, Video Exclusives, rose from $3 million in 1981 to $30 million in 1991. Other hard-core video producers in Hollywood, where about 50 of the nation's 60 or so manufacturers of hard-core videotapes are located, report similar growth.

 

Despite these successes, some in the industry believe that the market for these products has peaked and that the novelty of pornography will simply wear off over time. Triple-X videos are still a billion-dollar business, says Gene Ross, an editor at Adult Video News, but the business "peaked a couple of years ago and is on a downward trend.'' However, as one Los Angeles police expert on the industry explains, "No one should rash to write the obituary for porn. Although...the business climate has become tougher, the industry is not likely to disappear. The entrepreneurs of sex have proven that…many people still really want the stuff."

 

Topless Entertainment

 

In recent years, upscale topless clubs have become a booming segment of the adult entertainment industry. An article in The New York Times describes the proliferation of topless bars as a national phenomenon in large cities. According to a recent report in New York Newsday, topless clubs that cater to a young, affluent clientele have become one of the fastest growing and most lucrative segments of the adult entertainment industry in New York City. By conservative estimates, the topless club industry in New York City is a $50 million a year business, employing about 1,500 dancers. In two years, the number of these clubs has grown from about five in 1990 to more than 30 in 1992, not including clubs throughout the city that operate without liquor licenses.

 

Several factors appear to have influenced the recent proliferation of upscale topless clubs in New York. First, responding to the devastating effects of the recession on eating and drinking businesses, some entrepreneurs have retooled their establishments and used topless performances as a successful marketing device to win back their affluent male clientele. Second, the clubs have shed their "sleazy" reputations and become more mainstream by providing topless entertainment in safe, "elegant" surroundings furnished with other attractions such as giant closed circuit television screens, pool tables, and air hockey. Third, the instant financial success of the newest upscale topless clubs in Manhattan has attracted a number of imitators.

 

In a recent interview with New York Newsday, Jay Bildstein, the owner of Scores, a topless "sports bar" on the upper East Side of Manhattan, explained that while the new clubs may vary greatly in style, the corporate organization is often similar. Club owners typically contract with national organizations which, in exchange for a percentage of gross income, recruit and market the dancers. In the New York area, Goldfingers and Pure Platinum are two of the most successful national marketing organizations associated with local topless clubs. Typically, the dancers are treated as independent contractors, thereby releasing management from the responsibility for withholding taxes or social security, and protecting the club owners from potential legal liability for the dancers' behavior. The typical customer is an affluent male repeat customer between the ages of 25 and 30.

 

Certain factors appear to be influencing the recent proliferation of triple-X video stores and nude bars in or near residential neighborhoods in New York City, such as Murray Hill, Chelsea, Sunset Park, Sunnyside and Forest Hills. First, the availability of low-budget videotapes has enabled increasing numbers of low-end porn entrepreneurs to enter into a market that was previously closed to them. Second, topless bars have been successfully recast as upscale adult uses, catering to young businessmen with money to spend.

 

 

Inventory and Trends, by Location and Type

 

The locations of adult entertainment establishments in New York City that were identified by the DCP survey in 1993 are shown on the maps following page 19. Data in this section was obtained from different sources, and may reflect differences in definitions as to what constitutes adult entertainment. Pre-1993 data is presented because it is the most thorough available and, outside of Midtown Manhattan, provides an understanding of the location of adult uses at that time.

 

Citywide Trends: 1965 to 1993

 

In 1965, there were nine adult establishments located in New York City. By 1976, the number of such establishments increased to 151. Between 1976 and 1984, the number of adult establishments declined to 131 citywide. Between 1984 and 1993, the number of adult establishments increased citywide, to 177. Citywide trends in adult entertainment establishments are indicated in Table 1.

 

TABLE 1

CITYWIDE TRENDS IN THE NUMBER OF

ADULT ENTERTAINMENT ESTABLISHMENTS

Year	1965	1976	1984	1993
Total Number	9	151	131	177

 

Sources: 1965 and 1976 data, Office of Midtown Enforcement files; 1984 data, Police Department; 1993 data, Department of City Planning.

 

 

In 1965, the number of adult establishments was small because the sale and distribution of pornography was largely restricted. By 1976, most restrictions were removed and the number of adult establishments burgeoned.

 

Between 1976 and 1984, the number of adult establishments dropped 13 percent, reflecting a decrease of 48 adult uses in Midtown Manhattan alone, from 97 to 49. This may be attributable to enforcement efforts by the city, the start of major construction projects in west Midtown that increased investor confidence in the area, and changing technology. However, the decline was offset by an increase of 28 adult uses, from 30 to 58, in the other boroughs. The decline in adult uses in the Midtown area is probably unrelated to the increase in such uses to other areas of the city during that period.

 

Between 1984 and 1993, adult entertainment establishments increased 35 percent citywide. The trend -- analyzed below -- can be attributed to the advent of the adult video store, and greater numbers of topless or nude bars stemming from their changing, upscale image.

 

 



Trends by Borough

 

Between 1984 and 1993, the greatest increases in adult entertainment establishments were found in Manhattan and Queens. Both boroughs had a 47 percent increase in adult uses, from 73 to 107 in Manhattan, and from 30 to 44 in Queens. Adult uses in the Bronx declined by two, from 10 to eight. In Brooklyn, adult establishments decreased by one, from 16 to 15. Staten Island had an increase of a single establishment.

 

Among the five boroughs, most adult entertainment establishments continue to be located within Manhattan. In 1976, 80 percent of ail such uses were located in Manhattan, decreasing to 56 percent in 1984 and increasing to 61 percent in 1993. Queens has had the second greatest concentration of adult uses in New York City. In 1976, Queens contained 11 percent of the city's adult uses, rising to 23 percent in 1984, and increasing marginally to 25 percent in 1993. The Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island each have less than 10 percent of all adult establishments located in the city.

 

Trends within Categories of Adult Uses

 

Between 1984 and 1993, the number of adult bookstores/peep shows/video stores increased citywide 197 percent, from 29 to 86 establishments. Adult topless/nude bars also increased during the period, by 26 percent, from 54 to 68. Adult movie and live theaters declined over the period by 52 percent, from 48 to 23 establishments. Adult theaters declined from 41 percent of all adult uses in New York City in 1976, to 37 percent in 1984, and 13 percent in 1993.

 

Bookstores/peep shows comprised 44 percent of all adult uses in 1976, declining to 22 percent of the total in 1984. However, in 1993, the category consisted of 49 percent of the citywide total number of adult entertainment establishments, reflecting the rise in adult video establishments from none reported in 1984, to 64 in 1993. In 1993, adult video stores made up 74 percent of all establishments in the book/peep/video category. Their recent proliferation represents the largest percentage gain among all adult uses since the mid-1970s.

 

Topless and nude bars increased their share of all adult uses between 1976 and 1984, from 15 percent to 41 percent, respectively. By 1993, adult bars -- although continuing to increase in absolute numbers -- declined as a percentage of all adult uses to 38 percent of the total, reflecting the proliferation of adult video establishments.

 

If growth in the various segments of the business continue over the next decade at the same rate as they did between 1984 and 1993, by the year 2002, there would be a 197 percent increase in the number of bookstore/peep shows/videos from 86 to approximately 250; a 26 percent increase in topless/nude bars from 68 to 86; and a 52 percent decline in the number of adult movie and live theaters from 23 to 11.

Trends in Concentrations of Adult Entertainment Establishments, by Community District

 

Between 1984 and 1993, adult entertainment establishments have continued to concentrate in a few community districts in Manhattan. Citywide, the number of community districts with one or more adult uses has remained relatively stable over the period. However, adult uses have recently located in neighborhoods within community districts where they had not previously been.

 

Significantly, the number of community districts with seven or more adult entertainment establishments nearly tripled between 1984 and 1993, from three to eight. Community district designations for adult establishments identified in the 1976 survey are not readily discernible.

 

Table 2 indicates in rank order community districts by the number of adult uses within each district in 1993. Districts without adult uses are not listed. In 1993, the majority (53 percent) of adult uses in the city were located in Community Districts 1, 2, 4, and 5, Manhattan.

 

In 1984 and 1993, the greatest concentration of adult uses was found in Community District 5, Manhattan, which includes part of the Times Square area. In 1984, 34 percent of the citywide adult uses were located in the community district; in 1993, 30 percent of such uses were found there. Between 1984 and 1993, the number of adult establishments in the district increased by 18 percent, from 45 to 53, nearly half the rate of growth citywide.

 

TABLE 2

1993 RANK ORDER OF COMMUNITY DISTRICTS WITH ADULT USES

Rank	Community District*	No. Establishments in Each District
1	M5	53
2	M4	19
3	M2	11
4	M1	10
5	M6 Q3	9
6	Q2	8
7	K7	7
8	Q1 Q7	5
9	Q4	4
10	B12 K15 Q6 Q9 Q12	3
11	B5 K2 M3 M7 Q13 S2	2
12	B8 B10 B11 K6 K12 K14 M8 Q5 Q8 S3	1

* Borough designations: B = the Bronx; K = Brooklyn; M = Manhattan; Q = Queens; S = Staten Island.

 

Source: Department of City Planning survey.

 

 

Community District 4, Manhattan, had the second greatest concentration of adult uses in the city in 1984 and 1993. The district, located west of Community District 5, encompasses Chelsea, Clinton and part of the Times Square area. In 1984, seven percent of the city's adult entertainment establishments were located in the community district. By 1993, 11 percent of such establishments were located there. Between 1984 and 1993, the number of adult uses within the district increased by ten establishments from nine to 19, or by more than 110 percent. The growth rate in adult uses in the community district over the nine-year period was more than triple that of the city as a whole.

 

This data suggests that over the past decade, while adult uses have spread to more community districts, there is a persistent tendency toward concentration of significant numbers of adult uses.

 

Location of Adult Uses by Zoning District

 

For purposes of this analysis, zoning districts were grouped according to certain characteristics. C1 (Local Retail) and C2 (Local Service) Districts were grouped together because they are both mapped widely in residential neighborhoods throughout the city. C4 (General Commercial) Districts are regional commercial districts, mapped in each borough. They comprise the city's major and secondary shopping centers. C5 (Restricted Central Commercial) Districts and C6 (General Central Commercial) Districts were grouped into a single category because they are mapped principally in Midtown and Downtown Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. These districts allow a broad array of commercial uses, and are characterized by high commercial densities. C8 (General Service) Districts that permit automotive uses were grouped with M1, M2 and M3 Districts that permit industrial uses. Residential use is not permitted in C8 Districts and generally not permitted in manufacturing districts except in certain circumstances.

 

The analysis indicates that of the 177 adult entertainment establishments, approximately 18 percent (31) are located in C1 and C2 Districts. Ten uses, or approximately six percent, are located in C4 Districts. Approximately forty percent (70) of adult uses in New York City are located in C5 and C6 (central commercial) Districts. Forty-five adult uses, or approximately 25 percent of the total number, are located in C8 and manufacturing districts. Combined, approximately 88 percent of adult entertainment establishments are located in commercial or manufacturing districts.

 

The remaining adult uses, 21, or approximately 12 percent of the total number, are located in residence districts which do not permit commercial uses. These uses may be legal non-conforming commercial uses in residential districts, or the locations may be classified as within residence districts, because of the primary characteristic of the tax lot.

 

All commercial districts except C8 permit residential use. Many light manufacturing/mixed use zones permit residential uses in certain circumstances. More than 75 percent of the adult entertainment establishments are located in those commercial or manufacturing zoning districts that also permit residential uses.

 

 

Industry Views

 

Members of the adult entertainment industry met with city planners to discuss industry issues and needs. Those responding to the DCP invitation represented topless and nude clubs, triple-X video/bookstores/peep shows, live theaters, and suppliers. Some represented the Adult Industry Trade Association (AITA) as well as their own individual establishments. The meeting was designed to familiarize the representatives with the study and obtain specific information about location decisions, employment and revenues, tourism and industry changes and trends.

 

Industry representatives argued that there are a number of positive impacts directly attributable to adult businesses. For example, it was stated that "safer sex," due to the change in sexual mores caused by AIDS, has been promoted by the increase in triple-X video stores and the corresponding decrease in live sex clubs. Others noted that adult businesses provided safe places on otherwise dark streets because these businesses traditionally stay open very late. Also, late night uses on a street have encouraged other businesses to stay open later to cater to the customers drawn to adult businesses in the evening. Adult businesses often provide important rental revenues to landlords because they are willing to occupy vacant storefronts on a short-term basis. The manager of a triple-X video store in the East 50's in Manhattan observed 11 new businesses had since opened after his store opened in December 1992, observing that the presence of an adult business on the block is not a deterrent to new businesses. Industry representatives maintained that adult entertainment businesses earn revenue for the city, provide jobs and stimulate tourism. This would be true to the extent they do not discourage the growth of other businesses that would generate more employment, tax revenue and tourism.

 

Segmented Industry

 

The industry appears to regard itself as segmented -- tourist oriented v. neighborhood-oriented, upscale v. tawdry, community fixture v. transitional presence, eye-catching v. discreet signage, triple-X products v. entertainment. A number of establishments that were invited to the meeting declined to attend because they did not identify with perceived industry-wide concerns. One adult bookstore owner, located for many years on Eighth Avenue in the mid-30's, said he was not part of the problem; the owner of a sexually-oriented boutique on the Upper West Side said he was a neighborhood service and disassociated himself from "heavy-duty" adult businesses. People attending the meeting questioned whether the DCP study had examined segments of the adult entertainment industry separately to isolate possible impacts or if the study had grouped all adult businesses together.

 

Location

 

The basic locational criterion for adult entertainment businesses is to be "where the customers are." In Manhattan, this is often determined by where the tourists are; "Broadway is better than Twelfth Avenue," said one club owner. In the other boroughs, a good location is one with easy access to public transit, main arterials and plenty of parking for local residents and commuters passing by on the way home. Mass transit and available parking are always important, wherever you are, commented one participant.

 

Adult entertainment businesses tend to be transitional and locate in areas that are "moving upwards;" they are rarely found in poorer neighborhoods. One statement submitted at the meeting maintained that some major real estate developments owe their existence to the ability of landlords to warehouse property by renting space to adult businesses that are willing to accept high rents and short leases during the period when a major assemblage is underway.

 

Economics

 

One corporation that operates two upscale, topless bars provided a number of statistics about their operation. Combined figures for both clubs during the last fiscal year show that they employed a total of 218 employees, had an annual payroll of $1,302,627 and grossed more than $600,000/month on credit card business alone. Credit cards rather than cash are the preferred method of payment. The legitimate, licensed nature of the business was stressed as well as the desire to be fully integrated into the New York City business community.

 

Marketing

 

According to a representative of the two topless clubs, it is essential to be near tourist areas where people are drawn to adult uses by publicity and signage. About 40 percent of the approximately 5,000 weekly patrons at their club on Broadway in Midtown Manhattan are tourists; approximately 15 percent of the clientele at their Downtown Manhattan club are tourists. However, the manager of a triple-X video store in the East 50's in Manhattan, and the owner of a triple-X video store in the West 30's in Manhattan, said they have a non-tourist clientele; most customers are local residents or office workers. One of the video store owners said that eighty percent of his customers are men between 30-50 years old and 20 percent are couples or women; customers want cleanliness and safety in a convenient location that is not "sleazy." Signage for his store, he said, was originally obtrusive (to "announce" the store's presence) but is now muted in an effort to blend into the neighborhood blockfront.

 

State Liquor Authority (SLA )

 

Participants representing topless bars stated that their establishments are particularly orderly and well-run because they must conform to stringent State Liquor Authority (SLA) requirements. If the SLA finds a "pattern of disorder" during an inspection, the bar owner will face disciplinary action -- ranging from a warning letter to revocation of a liquor license. The SLA regulates liquor sales and the degree of performance nudity. Since SLA regulations do not allow total nudity, nude clubs do not serve liquor and are not governed by the SLA.

 

Trends

 

In response to a question about industry trends, the group responded that there was oversaturation of adult businesses in New York City, particularly in Manhattan, and that these establishments were closing. It should be noted that of 177 invitations mailed to the adult entertainment establishments identified in DCP's survey, 27 were returned primarily because the adult business was no longer located at that address. Concentrations of uses were said to be due to the "copycat factor" and the tendency of bar patrons to want to "barhop." These statements, indicating a tendency of adult uses to concentrate in a community, confirmed the conclusion of DCP's analysis of the location of adult uses by community districts. It was said that the emergence of Blockbuster Video (which does not carry any triple-X videos) had driven out some 'mom-and-pop' video stores that had a small section of triple-X videos, leaving the field clear for triple-X video stores in a few neighborhoods.

 

Summary

 

In a letter to the City Council dated March 9, 1994, AITA acknowledged concerns by some community groups regarding signage and windows and said AITA had been formed mainly to "address these problems by working as a liaison between community groups and adult use places." Most participants agreed that some adult businesses are regarded negatively by the community, but claimed this reaction is based on a visceral response and not on any secondary effects.

 

7. ADULT ENTERTAINMENT ZONING IN NEW YORK CITY

2. ADULT ENTERTAINMENT IMPACTS IN NEW YORK CITY

 

Impacts Identified by the City Planning Commission, 1977

 

On January 26, 1977, the City Planning Commission reported to the Board of Estimate its recommendation for zoning text changes relating to adult uses. The recommended zoning changes would have reduced existing concentrations of adult uses and prevented future concentrations, "...thereby substantially reducing the adverse economic and social effects that these concentrations produce. At the same time, adult uses will be prevented from disrupting residential neighborhoods by regulations requiring all adult uses to be located at least 500 feet from the nearest residence district boundary." In its report, the Commission cited several negative impacts of adult uses including economic factors, increased criminal activity, the damaging influences on minors and the disruptive effects that adult uses have on neighboring residential communities and the youth of such communities.

 

At the public hearing on the proposed text amendments, many of the speakers appeared in favor of the proposal, expressing concerns about the blighting effect that the concentration of adult uses has had on the West Side of Manhattan. Some identified other reasons to support the proposal. For example, a psychiatrist who was a former Deputy Commissioner of the City's Addiction Services Agency and founder of Phoenix House -- the city's major residential addiction rehabilitation program, said that the growth of adult uses has "…a direct bearing upon the number of young people who become addicted to heroin or dependent upon other drugs." He described the adult entertainment business as parasitic, attracting and victimizing adolescents and breeding prostitution and addiction. The doctor stated that limiting or dispersing adult uses can destroy the "pathological matrix." Most who spoke in opposition to the proposal did so because it would continue to permit adult uses near their communities.

 

The Commission noted that it analyzed the efforts of several municipalities, including Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Dallas and Atlantic City, to combine the best efforts of all these cities in a regulatory plan for New York. The Commission rejected the Boston concentration model, stating in the report that "Statistics indicate that the implementation of this zoning method in Boston has resulted in an increase in both the crime rate of the Boston Business and Entertainment district and an increase in the vacancy rate of the surrounding buildings." The Commission felt that a dispersion strategy, modeled after Detroit's regulatory plan, would provide room for constitutionally protected speech as well as protection for the health, safety and general welfare of the people.

 

The Commission noted that a proliferation of adult entertainment uses in the Times Square and Theater Districts could be related to the decade-old absence of major investment or development decisions, and to a substantial decline in economic viability. For a three-year period, tax arrears on West 42nd Street were 26 percent higher than the overall rate for Midtown. During a two-year period in the early 1970s, sales tax revenues in the area declined by 43 percent compared to an 11 percent increase citywide. In addition, jobs in retail sales declined in the area at a rate greater than that of the city as a whole. The Commission identified several businesses in the area that had closed, for example the Chase Manhattan Bank branch in Times Square, and noted that the "...decline of economic activity…, can be directly related to the escalation of adult uses."

 

Crime data for 1975 were also analyzed, leading the Commission to state: "Increases in felonious criminal activity in areas where concentrations of adult uses are located are overwhelming." The Commission observed that in Midtown, police posts (subareas of a precinct) in which one or more adult uses were located had 69.5 percent more verified complaints than those in other subareas. Posts with one or more adult uses constituted 34.5 percent of the total posts in Midtown, but accounted for 47.1 percent of all complaints. Comparing posts with one or more adult uses to posts without an adult use, complaints for felonious assault were 142.3 percent higher, grand larceny complaints were 88.9 percent higher, rape was 185.2 percent higher and robbery was 130.2 percent higher.

 

 

Impacts Identified by the Office of Midtown Enforcement

 

The 1983 Annual Report of The Mayor's Office of Midtown Enforcement (OME) supported the City Planning Commission's earlier findings. The OME's report stated that in the early and mid-1970's, "Times Square was clogged with pimps, johns, and hookers as well as the addicts and muggers who along with them preyed on the public." The report noted that 1,200 prostitutes worked out of the dozen or so prostitution hotels and the 23 massage parlors concentrated along Eighth Avenue between 34th and 55th Streets, and another twelve sex businesses were wedged in between these businesses.

 

OME strategies (including investigation, enforcement, seeking and obtaining legislative changes in the Nuisance Abatement Law, closing hotels and obtaining substantial financial penalties from hotel operators) worked to clean-up Times Square. According to the annual report, "At the end of 1983 Eighth Avenue is no longer 'The Minnesota Strip,' infested with the crowds of pimps, prostitutes and johns which once thrived on the atmosphere created by the multiplicity of sex uses. The crowds are no longer there because most of the sex uses which supported or attracted them have been closed."

 

Between 1978 and 1983, OME reported that it closed 106 illegal establishments, of which 82 were sex-related businesses. Additionally, they "virtually eliminated" the practice of sexually explicit handbilling on city streets, and after obtaining a zoning amendment establishing a permanent ban on heterosexual massage parlors, closed 37 illegally operated sex-related businesses in Midtown.

 

After reducing the number of sex-related businesses in midtown by 46 percent from 121 in 1978 to 65 at the end of 1983, OME reported that its "accomplishments have resulted in increased investor and consumer confidence in the midtown area as manifested by: the renovation and expansion of the Port Authority Bus Terminal; the opening of the new Milford Plaza Hotel on Eighth Avenue; the construction of the Marriott Marquis Hotel on Broadway; and the proposed 42nd Street Development Project."

 

The OME Annual Report for 1983 also repotted the criminal activity occurring in sex-related businesses. Convictions for prostitution occurring inside the premises are used by OME as a basis for civil litigation. Between 1978 and 1983, the numbers of arrests for prostitution and obscenity inside sex-related businesses located in Midtown decreased from 419 to 300. The change in the number of such arrests for any given year is a function of many factors, (e.g., deployment of police personnel, unrelated litigation defining obscenity) and reflects only in part the drop in the number of massage parlors and other commercially-operated houses of prostitution. It is significant, however, that the concentration of sex-related businesses has been closely associated with substantial numbers of arrests within those establishments for prostitution and obscenity.

 

Impacts Identified in the Chelsea Business Survey

 

In August, 1993, the Chelsea Action Coalition and Community Board 4, Manhattan, prepared a study describing the effects that sex-related establishments have on other businesses in the Chelsea section of New York City. The Coalition called upon the city to "develop zoning proposals that will disperse, but not eliminate, these (adult) businesses…" The Chelsea Action Coalition called for zoning proposals because it felt that the neighborhood "...was being transformed before our eyes into a red light district."

 

The study identified the locations of sex-related adult establishments in a 76 block area of Manhattan between 13th and 32nd Streets, and Fifth and Ninth Avenues. Nine legal triple-X video stores, eleven locations closed in fiscal year 1993 for illegal sex-related activities, and seven locations of "multiple indoor prostitution arrests" in fiscal year 1993 were mapped within the study area. The Coalition stated that the concentration of triple-X video stores and peep shows "is intolerable," and "harmful to our community," noting that "...under the Constitution the City is permitted to prohibit this type of concentration."

 

Representatives of the Coalition and Community Board surveyed I00 businesses located near the triple-X video stores "to determine whether these 'adult use' businesses had negatively impacted upon the economic vitality of the Chelsea business community." Responses to eight questions were tabulated, and illustrative comments made by respondents were included in the study report.

 

Negative impacts stemming from the adult video establishments reported by area businesspersons included: a decline in the overall reputation of the community, a reduction in the economic vitality of individual business; a declining potential for business in the community; and observations that businesses may leave or have left Chelsea because of the adult video stores.

 

Sixty-one percent of respondents felt that the triple-X video stores had a negative impact on their business. Ninety-five percent believe that the reputation of Chelsea has been hurt by these stores. Nearly two-thirds think the economic vitality of their business has been hurt, and 88 percent think the potential for doing business in Chelsea has been negatively affected by the adult stores.

 

Specific comments made by businesspersons included the following:

 

My clients don't like to come to my office and have to go by these stores. The storefronts also lower my image as a business which is very detrimental to me.

 

- publishing consultant

 

There is a XXX store on the next block. We work until 8:00 P.M. Mon. - Thurs. and it is scary to walk past the seedy element that hangs out there.

 

- retail furniture store

 

 

Impacts Identified at the Public Hearing of The Task Force on the Regulation of Sex-Related Businesses

 

The Task Force on the Regulation of Sex-Related Businesses was established in 1993 by the Borough President of Manhattan, Ruth W. Messinger, in response to community concerns about increasing concentrations of sex-related businesses.

 

The Task Force conducted a public hearing on October 6, 1993, at which more than 20 people testified. Approximately twice as many individuals testified in favor of regulating adult entertainment establishments as those opposed to government regulation of adult uses. Those speaking in favor of regulation discussed adult establishments in various neighborhoods in Manhattan: Tribeca and Downtown Manhattan, Chelsea, East Harlem, Times Square, and the East Side; the majority spoke of Times Square and Chelsea.

 

The Task Force structured the hearing as a fact-finding hearing to obtain testimony about how adult uses impact residents, businesses and Manhattan neighborhoods. The impacts identified by the testimony are summarized below, and a copy of the transcript of the public hearing is available for review at DCP.

 

Crime, including drugs and prostitution, was the most frequently cited impact from adult establishments. For example, the President of the 42nd Street Development Project, referring to a concentration of sex-related uses on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues, cited a 60 percent drop in crime after the Project took title to two-thirds of the project area in April 1990 and a majority of the site was cleared.

 

Several speakers noted that certain crimes were associated with adult entertainment establishments. One speaker, for example, stated that there had been no houses of prostitution in a particular neighborhood for ten years but, subsequent to the opening of a triple-X video store, two houses of prostitution had opened. These illegal establishments have since been closed by the city.

 

Quality-of-life impacts, such as littering, noise, late night operations, offensive signage, and general negative perceptions about neighborhoods or certain streets, were often mentioned as impacts. For example, the not-for-profit operator of an SRO stated that persons loitering near two adult establishments located across the street from the residence have made the street "intimidating," giving it a "different feeling" from that which had existed before the second adult use moved to the street. In other cases, certain impacts such as offensive signage depicting eroticism or sexually-explicit words were noted as especially problematic for children. It was observed that these signs are sometimes located near school bus stops.

 

Most of those testifying identified the impacts of adult entertainment establishments as especially troublesome in residential neighborhoods. Many noted the problem of adult uses in concentration, and expressed concern about the proliferation of these establishments absent the enactment of controls.

 

In general, those testifying against government regulation of adult entertainment establishments disputed the testimony about impacts. For example, testimony was offered that an adult burlesque theater provides 50 percent of the business of the commercial parking lot located across the street from it. Rather than having a negative impact on nearby businesses, it was claimed, the adult establishment brings in business and benefits other businesses. Others stated that the testimony of those proffering impacts from adult establishments was anecdotal. An adult video distributor, alluding to the Chelsea Business Survey, complained of bias in surveys and stated: "The way you phrase a question can determine the reply."

 

Impacts Identified in the Times Square Business Improvement District Study

 

In June 1993, a Times Square Business Improvement District study found that pending citywide legislation, placing locational restrictions on adult entertainment uses, would remove adult uses from most of the Times Square area; the approximately 40 adult uses presently within the area would only be allowed in small clusters in manufacturing districts to the south and west of the TSBID. Aware of the legislative history of similar legislation around the country, the TSBID contracted for a further study on the secondary effects of adult entertainment uses and their concentration, which was issued in April 1994.

 

The TSBID requests that the city restrict adult establishments in residential neighborhoods, and develop "legal and effective ways to mandate dispersal of these uses in commercial and manufacturing districts in such a way that no designated area becomes saturated, producing the negative impacts that Times Square and, Eighth Avenue in particular, suffer."

 

The study focused on the impacts of the dense concentrations of adult entertainment uses along 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and along Eighth Avenue between 42nd and 50th Streets. It briefly summarized the history and demographics of the area, crime statistics, and the results of 53 in-person and telephone interviews with large and small-scale business and property owners including retail, restaurant, hotel and theater enterprises as well as community boards, civic organizations, churches, schools and social service agencies. It also analyzed trends in property values.

 

Data for assessed property values for the 1985/86 and 1993/94 years were analyzed individually and in aggregation for study and control blockfronts to derive the specific and overall changes in valuation over that period of time. According to the study, aggregate data showed that the rate of increase of total assessed values for the study blocks with adult uses did not increase as much as the rate of increase for the control blocks without adult uses. For specific blocks, the rates of increase for other uses tended to be less than those for adult uses. The report stated that the proximity of an adult use may be "subjectively viewed" by assessors, and cited further corroboration by an appraiser with the Department of Finance. The study of property values concluded that "while it may be that the concentration of adult use establishments has a generally depressive effect on the adjoining properties…, we do not have sufficient data to prove or disprove this thesis."

 

There were almost twice as many complaints about crime for the 42nd Street study block as the control block, and more than twice as many complaints for the Eighth Avenue study blocks as the control blocks. The number of criminal complaints are highest near 42nd Street where adult uses are most concentrated and decline further along Eighth Avenue. Prostitution arrests were higher on Eighth Avenue than Ninth Avenue but even higher for the area west of Ninth Avenue. Police statistics indicate that there has been a 54 percent decrease in crime during the past five years in the Times Square area, where the number of adult uses has also declined.

 

A survey of property and business owners in the Times Square area revealed several impacts from adult entertainment establishments located in the area, particularly in concentration. All (12) expressed the view that adult use businesses have a negative effect on the property values of businesses located in their vicinity, emphasizing the negative effects of a concentration of adult businesses. Theater organization executives (3) stated that adult uses are detrimental to their business. One cited complaints from theater patrons about an adjacent adult use. Representatives of restaurants (7) attributed declining business during evening hours, inability to book corporate parties, and "flamboyant" adult use advertising as having a negative impact on their businesses. Three hotel operators and one hotel owner "agreed that the dense concentration of adult entertainment venues was a deterrent to their trade." One hotelier stated bookings are down; customers have sent photographs of the adjacent porn store to complain to the hotel's national booking office. Of five retailers interviewed, two stated that "unsavory" people loiter in front of adult uses, and are involved in petty crime.

 

 

Impacts Identified in Newspaper Reports and Correspondence

 

Newspaper articles since 1993 have chronicled neighborhood concerns and opposition to the proliferation of adult entertainment establishments throughout New York City. Previously located in a few specific areas, e.g., the Times Square area, or isolated locations, triple-X video stores and topless/nude bars can now be found in or near areas of a more residential character. Some residents, outraged by the nature of adult uses in their neighborhoods, and afraid of potential negative impacts, have organized ad hoc groups and appealed to local officials to have them closed down. Using a combination of picketing, petitions, publicity and pressure tactics on landlords, these neighborhood groups have often been able to directly influence the location of adult entertainment uses.

 

The following is an abstract gathered from New York City newspapers, both daily and weekly, of the opinions and actions of local residents who oppose the operation of adult uses in their neighborhoods. Although anecdotal and subjective, these comments demonstrate the concern, outrage and sense of intrusion that many people feel.

 

Fear over the potential consequences of proliferation is a major factor in neighborhood opposition to adult entertainment uses. A businessman on Sixth Avenue in Chelsea who has just had a triple-X video store move into the ground floor space in his office building states: "Then I see every couple of blocks has that kind of store and just worry that the neighborhood would change to be like Times Square." A member of Manhattan Community Board 4 is more explicit: "You get three to five of these stores in an area and you create a strip. Have a strip, and you get prostitution and other related problems."

 

In the Chelsea area, concern is so great about the proliferation of adult entertainment uses that residents and businesspeople joined in a coalition that has been successful in routing four of the nine adult uses in the neighborhood. The Chelsea Action Coalition has held protest marches and rallies to denounce such uses and has picketed adult entertainment uses to intimidate both the store owner and the potential patron. A woman who participated in a protest march with her eight year old daughter said she did so because, when she and her daughter walk down Sixth Avenue, her daughter says: "Don't look, Mommy. It's a very dirty store." The Coalition has publicized the names of landlords who rent space to adult entertainment uses, pressuring landlords to evict them. After being picketed, one owner of a triple-X video store, at Seventh Avenue and 23rd Street, converted two-thirds of his store to conventional videos, put up a sign stating, "Ladies and Kids are Welcome," and distributed flyers apologizing for opening the store in a residential neighborhood. The Coalition has also reached out to the community board and the City Council, asking for legislative action.

 

Fear of proliferation of adult uses can mobilize community action even when local civic leaders and police officials agree that the sole adult use has provoked no illegal activity or even complaints about quality-of-life issues. When a local bar, located on upper Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge, introduced topless dancers and started leafletting the neighborhood, over 1,000 people signed a petition opposing it. "This is a community issue for those of us who live in Bay Ridge," said one resident. Citing the belief that the topless club sets a precedent that other such establishments might follow, the leader of an ad hoc group formed to fight the topless club also reflected an apprehension that an adult entertainment use attracts people from outside the neighborhood: "This place is bringing in people from all over the place, who are not of, by or for this community. We've got people from Brooklyn Heights, Bensonhurst, members of the Hell's Angels, all kinds of people in there." The club owner, a long-time resident of Bay Ridge, met with local elected officials, civic leaders and police officials, and offered a number of concessions by curtailing dancing on Sundays and restricting dancing to after 9:00 p.m. on other nights. The community organization threatened daily protests if the bar continued to feature topless dancing. The club owner changed the topless format, saying he "did not want to insult the community or church." "Communities have a lot of power in situations like this (because) if nothing else works, they could make it economically impossible for the club to operate by continuously picketing the place," said a local official.

 

Concerted community action has also been effective in Astoria, Queens. When an awning advertising "Adult Video" was installed for a store undergoing renovation on Ditmars Boulevard, irate civic leaders, politicians, clergy and residents hastily assembled a group called the Coalition for the Protection of Children. "I've never seen the community united like this on any issue," said a local politician suggesting that this was because the store was in the middle of a residential area and within walking distance of four schools. After negotiations with the landlord and store owner failed, the Coalition scheduled twice-daily protests opposite the store. Local newspapers provided publicity, listing protest times and telephone numbers for further information as well as the name of the store owner. The owner soon assured the Coalition that the store would become family-oriented with an adults-only section but it was finally shut down in the face of continued opposition. The Coalition vowed to demonstrate against other adult entertainment uses because "this is a significant problem in the city," according to one local legislator.

 

Residents on the Upper West Side joined with local politicians to picket and rally in front of a triple-X video store on Amsterdam Avenue. The store is still doing business but the signage was altered to a format less objectionable to the community. A year later, some neighbors picketed a newly-opened sex "boutique" eight blocks away between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway, calling it a "smut shop." A couple living in the small building said they were afraid the store would attract transients and expose children to X-rated material. "We don't have any control or say about what's moving onto our block," said a woman who complained to the community board. "I believe in freedom of speech," added a neighbor who organized the demonstrations. "I understand that people have the right to sell and buy these things. I just don't want it across the street."

 

Concern over a triple-X video store on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village located 200 feet from a church and parochial school prompted an informal protest by residents that led to the cancellation of the lease. "To have a store with pictures of a donkey having sex with a woman located 40 yards from an elementary school is simply unacceptable," said a member of a nearby block association. Another resident, concerned that an influx of triple-X video stores could harm the tourist business in the Village, stated: "No one wants to do away with the First Amendment but this is degrading to the quality of life in the neighborhood." A number of merchants complained about the high visibility of a triple-X video store that has semi-naked women painted on the windows and flashing lights over the door. "This is bad for the atmosphere of the entire neighborhood. A lot of tourists come through here, and the [triple-X video] store can hurt everybody's business."

 

In November, at a community board meeting in the Clinton area of Manhattan, residents of West 30th Street in Manhattan testified for six hours about a 15 foot illuminated sign, "NUDE," that advertises a new topless club on Eighth Avenue near Madison Square Garden. Although worried about the proliferation of adult entertainment uses eroding their quality of life, it was reported that residents were most outraged by the blatant signage. "A lot of them just want to go into [the club] and smash the joint," said a member of the community board.

 

About 400 residents marched and picketed a 24-hour triple-X video store on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn because "it's a block and a half from an elementary school, and near a McDonald's and Burger King where high school kids hang out," according to one civic leader. "We feel it doesn't belong here."

 

In Community Board 12 in the Bronx, a neighborhood bordering Westchester County, residents have organized several protests against a topless club that opened in January on East Gun Hill Road near Laconia Avenue. The opposition is concerned about the location of the club. "The guy is surrounded by churches and schools," said the community board chairman noting that the three other adult entertainment uses in the district are in primarily commercial areas. Last fall, the Board was successful in deterring the owner of a bar on East 233rd Street from converting to a strip club. "We basically just told him that he was hurting the neighborhood's image and himself by doing it and that we'd fight him," said the chairman of the community board. "He agreed to stop."

 

In Jackson Heights, Queens, members of the Jackson Heights Neighborhood Association objected to a nude juice bar located on a commercial strip, Northern Boulevard, two blocks from a school. When informal protests were ineffective, they initiated protests every Friday and Saturday night. "We're not questioning at all the First Amendment or the right to be nude," said a local merchant and civic leader. "It's just their location, period."

 

On East 53rd Street in Manhattan, between Second and Third Avenues, some residents have formed a block association to protest the appearance of two triple-X video stores. The stores epitomize a relapse for the previously notorious block known as the Loop for its male prostitution and profusion of adult entertainment uses. "This was just beginning to get cleaned up," said one nearby resident. "Now, this." A landlord across the street from the video stores complained: "Every one of our potential renters refer to those stores. They are unhappy to see this type of clientele in a residential neighborhood." The owner of an adjacent 55-unit apartment house, however, claimed to have a waiting list. At one of several protest rallies in front of the stores, one man who had brought his two young sons, said: "Bringing up kids in this environment is hard. My oldest started to ask, What's that, Daddy, as we walk by their big signs."

 

The explicit signage and gaudy lighting that draw attention to adult entertainment uses are a focus of much of the local condemnation. "These gross caricatures of sexual objects are an insult," said a member of Manhattan Community Board 4. "It's all psychological," said a store owner in Murray Hill directly across the street from a triple-X video store. "The store looks terrible but they're not doing anything wrong." A Chelsea resident agreed: "The problem is not that it's a porn store but that it looks like hell."

 

Some residents perceive other impacts emanating from the presence of an adult entertainment use.

 

Residents reported seeing prostitutes for the first time on Third Avenue and 37th Street, in Manhattan, a result, allegedly, of the presence of a 24-hour triple-X video store. A local civic group held frequent demonstrations and set up a table on the sidewalk where volunteers sat and harangued customers of the triple-X video store. Although the signage has been described as muted, passersby had a clear view through the windows of the store interior. "It's an assault to the eye," said a member of the Murray Hill Committee Zoning Alliance who led twice-weekly protests and claimed to have gathered 7,000 signatures opposing the adult use. The owner masked the windows but eventually closed citing lack of business.

 

Neighbors joined in nightly demonstrations outside an upscale, nude cabaret, Runway 69, on Austin Street in Forest Hills, Queens. The landlord was subjected to a barrage of telephone calls protesting the presence of the nude dancers. "I don't want to sound like I'm all for it [the nude club]," said one local merchant, "but Forest Hills is changing." The club replaced a disco that attracted police attention because of the young, rowdy crowd. Afraid that the adult entertainment use would increase congestion, attract disreputable outsiders and attract crime, the demonstrators continued until the landlord negotiated to buy out the club's lease.

 

Referring to the First Amendment right of free speech that covers adult entertainment uses, a member of a neighborhood association in the East 60s in Manhattan claimed: "Everybody has a right to go to these places but when it becomes a nuisance, when it becomes a major problem, we can exercise our First Amendment rights to protest noise, sanitation problems, traffic and crimes."

 

There have been numerous letters and petitions from community groups and local organizations protesting the intrusion of adult uses into their community and asking the City to find solutions for the problem. "(We) just wish to live quietly and raise (our) families in quiet residential communities," wrote the president of one borough-wide civic group. A taxpayers' group in Glendale said that having to pass adult uses was offensive for children and adults who participated in activities at the many schools and churches prevalent in the area. Another neighborhood group in Queens asked for a moratorium on any new sexually-oriented bars.

 

The executive director of The New York Foundling Hospital was concerned that their young charges were exposed to the "blatant and offensive" signs advertising triple-X video stores in Chelsea. A neighborhood association in Manhattan, wrote that it "sees the proliferation of pornographic businesses as a dangerous trend that violates the integrity of our East Side neighborhood." A resident of the East Side wrote: "We, who live in the city's residential areas, are not opposed to free speech, we just feel porn establishments should exercise their free speech in more appropriate commercially zoned areas. The tenants of a residential hotel in the Times Square area submitted a number of signed petitions and wrote: "Although the people who live in this building and in this neighborhood can prove no hard numbers about how their businesses have been harmed or prove that crime has increased, they do know that the quality of their lives and their neighborhood is being deleteriously impacted." Another civic group summed it up when it wrote: "many law-abiding citizens view these establishments as a threat to the quality of life in their neighborhoods. Such concerns are quite valid and should not be easily dismissed."

 

4. SURVEY OF ADULT ENTERTAINMENT USES

 

In 1993-94, DCP surveyed street and signage conditions, local organizations and businesses, real estate brokers, and police and sanitation officers, and analyzed criminal complaint and property assessment data for six study areas throughout the city to obtain information about the impacts of adult entertainment establishments. A map indicating the location of the study areas follows. The Times Square area was not chosen as a study area because the TSBID study was already underway. DCP's study areas were mostly in the other boroughs in areas with lesser concentrations of adult uses. Three of the six study areas contained a single isolated use. Within each study area, DCP selected "survey" blockfront(s), containing one or more adult entertainment establishments, and "control" blockfront(s), which have similar land uses, except for an adult use. A map of each study area is included in Appendix A.

 

 

Summary Survey Results

 

Planners' Assessment

 

Sidewalk and street frontages on the survey and control blockfronts in each of the six study areas were studied for noise, traffic, sanitation, and loitering. Caution should be exercised in generalizing from this survey. Observations were made during the cold weather months, and over a brief amount of time. Cold weather will discourage loitering because few people want to remain outdoors for extensive periods under such conditions. Surveyors did not spend significant amounts of time observing each street element, although observations were made more than once, on various days of the week, at different times of the day or night, and on numerous blockfronts.

 

On survey blockfronts in half of the study areas, impacts were noted. They were generally associated with non-adult uses, e.g., noise from voices and pedestrian congestion were noted on a blockfront in Study Area 2, but the impacts are associated with a playground. In Study Area 3, pedestrians were observed waiting on the sidewalk, but for meals served in a church. However, some noise from music emanating through the walls onto the street was noted for the topless bar in Study Area 6.

 

Signage Review

 

Accessory business signs were examined for all ground floor commercial uses located on the survey and control blockfronts in all six study areas. Little difference was noted for most signs on the survey blockfronts compared with the control blockfronts, except with respect to adult entertainment establishments.

 

In general, signage is characterized by the name of the establishment located above the storefront. Sometimes the accessory business signs are illuminated; less frequently they are flashing. Where there are display windows, additional signs are

 



 

 

generally found; these are often neon or illuminated. Signs are generally flush with the buildings, but are sometimes located on projecting canopies.

 

Significantly, however, the signage for the adult entertainment establishments is characteristically at odds with that of other establishments. In half of the study areas, signage for the adult uses occupies a greater percentage of storefront surface area than other commercial uses located within the same blockfronts. For example, on blockfronts in Study Area 2, accessory business signs cover approximately 25 to 40 percent of the storefront surface area, but the adult use signage occupies 80 to 100 percent of such area. On blockfronts in Study Area 6, accessory business signs cover about 20 percent of frontage; the adult use has signage covering approximately twice that amount.

 

On blockfronts in four of the six study areas, adult use signage tends to be illuminated when that of non-adult commercial uses is not. For example, on blockfronts in Study Area 1, approximately 80 percent (32 of 37) of the ground floor commercial accessory business signs are non-illuminated. In stark contrast, 75 percent (3 of 4) of the adult entertainment establishments have illuminated signs. On blockfronts in Study Area 4, signs on most of the adult entertainment establishments are illuminated, but non-adult uses located on these blockfronts generally have non-illuminated signage.

 

In half of the study areas, graphic material for adult use signage was noted. For example, in Study Area 5, the outline of the female figure was a component of the adult use business sign. Flashing signs were generally not noted for the adult uses located in the six study areas. The structure of the signage for the adult use located in Study Area 3 is typical of that of movie theaters. Significantly, the movie marquee and movie poster board display windows are devoid of graphic material; only "XXX" and "adult" indicate that pornography is shown inside.

 

Community Responses

 

Twenty-eight local organizations, including the community district offices, within the six study areas were contacted and 23 responded to DCP's survey; not all responded to each question asked.

 

A majority (14 of 22) informed the surveyor that over the last year they had received comments about adult entertainment establishments located in their communities. Five said that these comments represented about half of all comments made about commercial uses; four informed DCP that they made up an even greater (a high) proportion of such comments. The comments, primarily from residents, mentioned graphic signage, potential proliferation of uses, proximity to residential neighborhoods, negative influence on children and teenagers and the nature of the adult use itself.

 

More than 80 percent of those surveyed (19 of 23) responded that adult entertainment establishments negatively impact the community in some way. Two-thirds (12 of 18) stated that the impacts from adult uses are different from those of similar establishments not characterized as adult; however, bars and discos were often said to create problems whether they have an adult use character or not. Approximately 20 percent of those responding (4 of 19) indicated that the impacts are the same for all types of adult uses studied.

 

Nearly 40 percent (9 of 23) of those responding stated that they have dealt with the owner or manager of an adult business about a community concern. Only two reported that the issue was resolved.

 

Business Responses

 

Ninety-seven businesses located within the survey and control blockfronts were contacted and asked to respond to DCP's business survey, and 70 agreed; not all responded to each question asked.

 

Approximately 20 percent (13 of 60) of those responding stated that they have received comments about adult uses in their area. For example, some said they were aware that residents, clients, etc., perceived that the adult use was inappropriate for the neighborhood, or that a proliferation would be bad for the community.

 

Thirty-three percent (17 of 52) responded "not known" to a question about how nearby adult uses impact their business. However, seventeen percent (9 of 52) responding to the question think that nearby adult uses do impact their business. Nine (of 40 responding) believe the impacts are the same for all types of adult uses, i.e., adult bars, triple-X video stores, and adult theaters. Twenty percent of the businesses responding (11 of 53) think that the impacts from nearby adult entertainment establishments are different from the impacts of similar establishments not characterized as adult.

 

Nearly half of the businesses responding (27 of 57) believe that their business would be negatively affected if more adult establishments were to locate near them. However, a nearly equal number (24 of 55) believe that their business would be positively affected if more bars, movies or theaters, or video/bookstores of any kind were to locate nearby.

 

About 10 percent of the businesses responding (4 of 44) stated that they have dealt directly with the owner or manager of an adult business about a business concern. Half advised the surveyor that the concern was resolved.

 

Police Responses

 

The community liaison or beat officer was interviewed for each of the six study areas.

 

When the survey and control blockfronts were compared for criminal complaints and allegations, the officers generally did not link higher incidents with adult uses. Three officers believe that criminal allegations are higher on the survey blockfronts compared to the control blockfronts but, in two of these cases, the higher incidence of allegations was attributed by them to uses unrelated to the adult use. In a single instance, an officer replied that the adult entertainment establishment located in the study area has some effect on crime, and then "only rarely." Four of the six officers thought the adult uses have no effect on crime.

 

One officer stated that if more adult entertainment establishments were to locate in the study area, crime probably would increase. However, that officer and another responded that more bars, movies or theaters, or video/bookstores of any kind would effectively increase crime in the study area.

 

Real Estate Brokers Responses

 

Nineteen real estate brokers from all of the six study areas were interviewed; not all responded to each question asked.

 

It is significant that more than 80 percent of the brokers responding (11 of 13) reported that an adult entertainment establishment tends to decrease the market value of property that lies within 500 feet of it. When the distance is increased from between 500 to 1,000 feet of an adult use, a majority of brokers (7 of 13) indicated that the same phenomenon would occur. At 1,000 or more feet, less than 25 percent of the brokers (3 of 13) responded in this manner. The pattern of response was basically unchanged when the question referred to two adult uses (a concentration) instead of one. In addition, approximately two-thirds (8 of 13) of the brokers expressing an opinion said that the presence of an adult entertainment establishment lengthens the time it takes to sell or lease nearby property, or the turnover rate of nearby properties.

 

Several brokers added comments to explain their responses about the impact of adult entertainment establishments on nearby property values. Some said that property value decreases would be minimal, or that values may be affected differently depending on the age make-up of the area. One broker suggested the area of impact as one avenue or two short blocks; most brokers said that it was not the physical distance but the perceived impact that mattered most. One broker said that impact depends on whether the (real estate) market is up or down. In general, commercial brokers said that impacts on commercial properties would tend to be limited because the value of storefronts on such strips is determined more by locational factors, business volume, etc., than by a nearby adult use. Not all comments were negative: for example, one broker asserted that a particular adult bar offers customers a check cashing service that would not otherwise be available in the manufacturing district to which he was referring.

 

Three brokers related incidents in which an adult use negatively impacted other properties. One incident involved a children's gym that moved after a topless bar located within the same shopping center. Another broker reported that a prospective residential loft purchase was terminated after it was reported that the Flower District planned to move. The purchaser feared that the vacant space would be occupied by adult uses. A third incident concerned the broker -- he stated that when he learned that his wife's company was planning to move to a building containing a storefront adult use, he intervened and found new offices for the company. Subsequently, he heard that the space in the building containing the adult use took a long time to rent.

 

Sanitation Interview

 

The Sanitation Department official representing each study area was interviewed. Sanitation problems were attributed to one adult use, located in the Study Area 6. The problem consisted of two violations issued over the past year for litter and broken glass in the accessory parking lot.

 

 

Analysis of Criminal Complaint Data

 

The Police Department provided DCP with information about criminal complaints for the three-month period beginning June 1, 1993, for the survey and control blockfronts within the six study areas. The complaints were drawn from precinct files. Criminal complaints are allegations of unlawful acts, generally reported by a victim. The study analyzed this data to see if there was any association between complaints and adult uses.

 

Within each study area, there were generally more complaints noted in the survey blockfronts compared with the control blockfronts, as shown in Table 4, below. Only in Study Area 3 were more complaints recorded for the control blockfronts compared to the survey blockfronts. In Study Area 4, an equal number of complaints were noted for the survey and control blockfronts. Study Area 6 has too few complaints for meaningful analysis.

 

TABLE 4

CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS ON SURVEY AND CONTROL BLOCKFRONTS

Study Area	Complaints on Survey Blockfronts	Complaints on Control Blockfronts
Study Area 1	80	24
Study Area 2	16	10
Study Area 3	47	99
Study Area 4	8	8
Study Area 5	117	29
Study Area 6	3	0

 

Within each study area, the number of survey and control blockfronts often differ. In Study Areas 1, 4, 5 and 6, the number of survey blockfronts is greater than the number of control blockfronts. To account for these differences, a control blockfront was "paired" with the survey blockfront that has the most similar land uses (and an adult entertainment establishment).

 

Criminal complaints for the paired blockfronts are shown in Table 5, below.

 

TABLE 5

CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS ON "PAIRED" BLOCKFRONTS

Study Area	Complaints on Control Blockfronts	Complaints on Paired Survey Blockfronts
Study Area 1	10	7
Study Area 2	10	16
Study Area 3	99	47
Study Area 4	8	2
Study Area 5*	23	49
	6	10
Study Area 6	0	0

 

* Two control blocks were chosen for the study area; the area spans approximately one mile, and the character of it changes.

 

 

In Study Areas 1, 3 and 4, there were more complaints noted on the control blockfronts compared with the survey blockfronts. However, in Study Areas 2 and 5, more complaints were noted on the survey blockfronts compared with the control blockfronts. In Study Area 6, there were no complaints on either the control or survey blockfront.

 

Other land use related criteria could affect the analysis. For example, the location of the paired control and survey blockfronts was analyzed for proximity to transportation facilities such as subway stations and limited-access highways. These facilities bring concentrations of people into an area, and by doing so may affect the incidence of criminal complaints. In general, the blockfronts located closest to subway stations and a limited-access highway ramp had more criminal complaints than blockfronts located farther away. Excluding from this analysis one of the paired blockfronts in Study Area 5 that is distant from subway access, and Study Area 6, because there were too few complaints to consider, the analysis found that in each of the other study areas the number of criminal complaints was greater near transportation facilities, notwithstanding the location of an adult use.

 

In addition, caution should be exercised in making inferences using criminal complaints. Data was collected for the limited purpose of identifying differences in criminal complaints between survey and control blockfronts within each study area, not between or among study areas. Differences in the number of criminal complaints between or among study areas may be a function of variations in population densities, or other factors for which no study controls were established. Additionally, data was gathered for a single, limited period of time; not for trend analysis.

 

In summary, it was not possible to draw definitive conclusions from the analysis of criminal complaints. Land uses other than adult entertainment establishments, e.g., subway station access, appear to have a far stronger relationship to criminal complaints. It was not possible to isolate the impact of adult uses relative to criminal complaints.

 

 

Analysis of Property Assessed Values

 

For each study area, property assessed valuations were identified for 1986, 1989 and 1992, and the percentage changes between 1986 to 1992 were noted for the study area, survey blockfronts, control blockfronts, community district, and borough. The survey and control blockfronts were compared using the data indicating the percentage changes. The survey blockfronts were also compared in the same way with the community district and borough.

 

The analysis of trends in assessed valuation relative to adult entertainment uses was inconclusive. It would appear that if adult entertainment uses have negative impacts, they are overwhelmed by other forces that increased property values overall, at least as measured by assessed values. Even at the small scale of the survey blockfront, there is a wide diversity in the assessed value trends ranging from an increase of more than 18 percent to an increase of more than 200 percent over the period of analysis, strongly suggesting the importance of other factors. The influences on assessed value that the city's assessors take into account are numerous and include the sale prices of similar comparable properties adjusted for differences in size, age, and location. While the total assessed values on the survey blockfronts may be influenced to some extent by the presence of adult entertainment uses, demonstrating such effects is very difficult.

 

In the two Manhattan study areas (Study Areas 1 and 2), the change on the control blockfronts substantially exceeded the change in the assessed valuation on the survey blockfronts. Between 1986 and 1992, the total assessed valuation on the control blockfronts in Study Area 1 increased 165 percent; the survey blockfronts increased 68 percent. In Study Area 2 during that period, the control block, fronts increased 134 percent; the survey blockfronts increased 18 percent.

 

However, in the other four study areas, total assessed valuations increased by a greater percentage on the survey blockfronts compared to the control blockfronts. In Study Area 3 (the Bronx), the total assessed valuation on the survey blockfront increased by 164 percent over the six-year period; the control blockfront increased 155 percent. In Study Area 4 (Brooklyn), the total assessed valuation on the survey blockfronts increased 78 percent; the control blockfront by 19 percent. Study Areas 5 (Queens) and 6 (Staten Island) had increases of 153 percent and 202 percent on the survey blockfronts, and 149 percent and 88 percent on the control blockfronts, respectively.

 

There are several additional reasons why the assessed value findings are necessarily ambiguous. First, the survey block, fronts tend to be commercial strips or shopping streets. Commercial property in a stable area is likely to have assessed values updated with greater frequency by assessors, who take into account income and expense data that tends to have a net overall positive effect with inflation. Under the Direct Income Capitalization method used by assessors, this tends to yield a higher assessed valuation.

 

Second, the adjoining community district tends to contain a greater proportion of residential property, which is subject to legal limitations on the increase in assessed valuation. Since 1983, residential property in Class 1 (primarily one- to three-family houses) have had their potential annual assessment increase limited to six percent and their potential maximum five-year increase capped at 20 percent (unless the increase is due to a "physical change" such as construction). In addition, in the absence of a sale, residential property tends not to be reassessed, particularly compared to non-residential property in an active area.

 

Third, the total assessed value of the survey block, fronts is very small as would be expected compared to the community districts; in some cases less than one percent. While trends in the community district would tend to be reflective of local area trends, the magnitude of the survey block, front component of total assessed value in the district is so small that its contribution to the community district trend would tend to be imperceptible, whether its specific impact was negative or positive.

 

6. OVERALL STUDY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

01 Adult Video 21 Ann St. Video Store

Joseph B. Rose, Director