2005/06/15 Council Agenda Packet

"peaked a couple of years ago and is on a downward trend."38 However, as one Los Angeles Police expert on the industry explains, No one should rush 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 entertain- ment 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 mcst 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. 41 In two years, the number of these clubs has grown from about five =-; 1990 to more t, an 30 in 1992, nct including clubs throughout the city that operate without Iiquor licenses. 4z 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, J8 Ibid )Y Ibid "Stn P Clubs Putting On a Suit and Tie," The New York Times, p. B-5, March 26, 1994. 41 Walter Fee, "Bare Market: For New Upscale Clubs, It's Boom and Bust," New York Newsday, City Edition, December 20, 1992, p. 7. A_' Ibid 17 EVER00116