On Saturday, Dec. 6, 2003, the storefront at 515 6th Ave. (between 13th & 14th) was a tawdry but harmless 99-cent shop: no one’s idea of an ideal neighborhood establishment, but not really bothering anyone.  But by Wednesday, Dec. 10, it had turned into a porn shop, floor to ceiling, front to back filled with lurid titles and the hardware of carnality.  The owner installed neon signs — one announcing the name of the shop (“Xcellent DVD”), and one announcing that, for our convenience, the store is “Open 24 Hours.”

What’s in the store?
The store is entirely adult oriented.  However, many of the materials displayed are sex toys and sex lubricants, which inspectors refer to as “marital aids” (even though many of the devices are quite capable of being used outside the marital bond).  Upon entering the store, one immediately sees adult-oriented videos and DVDs, which one must pass to reach the “marital aids.”  The front window displays explicit DVDs.

Does the store comply with the law?
Mr. Robert Sacklow of the Office of Midtown Enforcement inspected the premises on March 5, 2004.  This is a branch of the Mayor’s office responsible for enforcing anti-porn laws in Manhattan.  If one complains to the Department of Buildings, the department refers the complaint to this special enforcement unit.

Mr. Sacklow found that at least 60% of the materials in the bookstore were classifiable as “marital aids,” and were not “adult printed or visual materials,” as defined above.  Therefore, the store complies with the law.

What’s the solution?
First, although Mr. Sacklow faithfully enforced the law as he understood it, and as it is interpreted in directives from NYC Corporation Council and the Department of Buildings, we believe that the store violates the law in one important respect: namely, that one must pass adult-oriented materials (for example, DVD containers) before getting to the non-adult-orient materials, e.g., the “marital aids.”  In addition, the adult-oriented materials are displayed in the front window.

Second, and more important:  THE LAW AS ENFORCED IS LUDICROUS.  When the City Council passed laws that led to the 60-40 rule, it was envisioned that stores would contain at least 60 percent non-porn and no more than 40 percent porn.  However, nothing in the law forbids stores from carrying sex toys.  CITY COUNCIL MUST CHANGE THE LAW TO STATE THAT SEX TOYS AND LUBRICANTS IN SEXUALLY EXPLICIT PACKAGES MAY NOT BE SOLD IN ANY STORE WHERE ADULT-ORIENTED BOOKS OR VIDEOS ARE SOLD.  This statute would outlaw many of the stores that line 6th Avenue from Bleecker St. up to Herald Square, but would not affect legitimate video stores that also feature porn, e.g., World of Video, or sex-toy stores, e.g., The Pleasure Chest, or bookstores that sell porn, e.g., Creative Visions on Hudson Street.  The law must explicitly define sex toys (or “marital aids”) — to do so, it could simply incorporate an inventory list from a sex toy shop. 

In addition, THE LAW MUST BAN PEEP BOOTHS.  The city may, without violating the First Amendment, restrict the locations where individual viewing cubicles are allowed.  No such cubicles should be allowed in any store in a mixed commercial and residential area.