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Hotels <br />The three hotel operators who were part of the interview sample, and the <br />owner of one of the properties—all located along Eighth Avenue—agreed that the dense <br />concentration of adult entertainment venues was a deterrent to their trade. <br />The owner of a long-standing moderate priced tourist and convention hotel said <br />that there had been a tremendous improvement in conditions in Times Square in the <br />last two or three years. He attributed this to the work of the Police Department and <br />-the Times,Square Business Improvement District.•Biit this hotel owner continues to <br />-2 <br />have some difficulty attracting airline and corporate business, and the trade shows <br />- <br />that'.it'seeks. _He .described complaints from airline. personnel` that women _among <br />them were verbally assaulted on Eighth. Avenue. He said that Times.Square Is <br />viewed <br />as a .'fun area"., but hat Eighth Avenue is the "seedy side "of the district". He also <br />said that he.is himself "not a prude", that it is .perhaps.posslbie to - live with some; of <br />these'�estabfish ments,+'but"that the concentration -'of .them—lnore-than one on every <br />" <br />block on Eighth Avenue—is "disgusting and harmful".. In sum, this manager_of.a.large <br />hotel said .that there is great improvement, but there Is still the need to combat sleaze <br />through City action and through pressure on landlords., .. _ <br />_.An assistant manager of a chain hotel did not see any positive or negative <br />direct effects of pom businesses his <br />on own. But he did observe that prostitution <br />activity seemed to be worse than last year, and he offered the opinion that plainly <br />people do not like to see either that activity or porn establishments when they leave <br />his hotel. <br />In the interviews with the owner and his lessee of a small hotel franchised by <br />an international chain we heard about the .direct effects. -of porn establishments. <br />Though located on Eighth Avenue, with <br />X -rated -movies at the end of the block, they <br />believed that they could attract <br />customers because of their national booking service. <br />But after_obtaining their lease, an adult -use store opened right next to the front door <br />of the hotel, and the respondent described many instances of customers having <br />booked rooms through the national office. arriving, <br />.Iookin.g;.:;and_pance[ling..-These . <br />Z <br />customers sometimes took photographs of:.the vadjacent porn store and sent them <br />back to the national -booking office..... . As, :a -,consequence,_ .fiiislness Is-. down <br />substantially. Both owner and manager describe the constant activity{of <br />prostitution <br />In front of the porn store and their hotel, and both associate drug dealing and crime - <br />with the loiterers -attracted to the <br />store. _ <br />The owner had the opportunity to acquire and rent the adjacent store. He could <br />t <br />have rented to adult use businesses, he said, but refused. He claimed that the adult <br />use is paying a much higher, above market rent than what -1 -he previous owner or any <br />non -pornographic business would pay for that space. He also said that "I am certain <br />that there are Illegal activities in the back room [of the store]. The rent is too high to <br />be sustained by the sales." Both men expressed concern about a store across the <br />Avenue that had been vacant for <br />a year and a half, and feared it would be rented for <br />adult entertainment use. <br />42 EVER00228 <br />