2005/06/15 Council Agenda Packet

working and off -hours in the Times Square area. This percentage is higher than the percentage for the Lorough as a whole and is much higher than the percentage of those in the other four boroughs. Crime has plummeted over the past several years in Times Square with an estimated reduction by 60°!° on West 42nd Street This St eet between 7th and from the closing of many adult use establishments on 42nd 8th Avenues and the close coordination between the NY Police Department and the Times Square BID. The BID with its 40 public safety officers has witnessed an overall reduction of street crime within its boundaries by 19%, comparing 1992 to 1993, including an impressive reduction of 38% in grand larceny from the person. ..BID statistics also reveal that three card monte games have been reduced by some 57% over the past year. ` The most recent Mayor's Sanitation Scorecard rated the sidewalks of Times Square at an impressive 93% thanks .in large me BID''s4many sanitation workers. In addition, the BID's homeless outreachteam has placed people in shelters and services. During 1993, the City Council introduced legislation that would restrict the locations of adult uses citywide. This proposed legislation, along with similar bills proposed and enacted in cities across the nation, including Detroit, can only be upheld constitutionally, if it can be supported by documentation of negative secondary effects as well as evidence that the establishments could locate somewhere accessible for their patrons. The Times Square BID commissioned an objective, fact-finding study to determine the effect, if any, these adult use businesses have on one of- the City's most commercially vital areas. In this study, as in other secondary effects studies, researchers combined analysis of available data on property values and incidence of crime together with a demographic co�cdentrationrof commercialprofile se establishments and relationships, if any, between th negative impacts on businesses and community life. The study also includes, as allowed by Courts, anecdotal evidence from property owners, businesses and community residents and activists of their perceptions of the impact adult establishments have on their area. FINDINGS_ • All survey respondents acknowledged the improvements in the area and voiced optimism about the future of Times Square even as they bemoaned the increase of adult establishments on Eighth Avenue. Many respondents felt that some _ adult establishments could exist in the area, but their growing number and their concentration on Eighth Avenue constitute a threat to the commercial prosperity and residential stability achieved in the past few years. EVER00184