2005/06/15 Council Agenda Packet

INTRODUCTION After a dramatic decline in the number of adult use establishments in the Times Square area in the last eight years, Times Square, like other neighborhoods in the city, has experienced a sudden increase, especially along Eighth Avenue. This recent increase of adult businesses must be seen in the context of the current resurgence of Times Square as New York's premier tourist, entertainment, and commercial center. Member organizations of the BID and other. concerned citizens have expressed particular concern about the impacts of a dense concentration of these businesses on the commercial life of the area. "Thus, this study was commissioned by the Times Square Business Improvement District. 'The Times Square Business Improvement District.works to make Times Square clean, safe and friendly. The Times Square BID, working collaboratively with _city agencies, community organizations and the many individuals and groups with a shared interest in the vitality of Times Square, provides supplemental security and sanitation services, homeless outreach efforts, tourism assistance and special events and marketing. The BID extends from 40th to 53rd Streets, just west of Sixth Avenue to the west side of Eighth Avenue. Along 46th Street, it stretches to 9th. Avenue.. Its over four hundred members represent five thousand businesses and organizations in.the Times Square area. Supported by mandatory assessments on local property owners, the BID _has an annual budget of- $4.6 million. It is an independent not-for-profit organization, with a 46 -member Board of Directors representing large property owners, large and small commercial tenants, residential tenants, and social service r agencies.. During -1993, legislation was Introduced in the City Council that would restrict the placement of adult uses on a city-wide basis. This legislation was spurred in large part.br-fesidential neighborhoods that, for the, first time, were becoming home to adult estabil:§bments. In the summer of 1993 the BID hired Insight Associates to assess that proposed legislation and its possible impact on Times Square in order to help the BID understand its options and determine an appropriate reaction. That study called attention to wider national experience. Legislation regulating adult uses, in order to pass Constitutional muster and be upheld in the courts, must be backed by documented evidence of secondary effects of such businesses and their concentration. EVER00187 i