Posted on 06/28/2004 5:47:28 AM PDT by presidio9
With thousands of Republicans set to invade the city this summer, high-priced escorts and strippers are preparing for one grand old party. Agencies are flying in extra call girls from around the globe to meet the expected demand during the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 gathering at Madison Square Garden.
"We have girls from London, Seattle, California, all coming in for that week," said a madam at a Manhattan escort service. "It's the week everyone wants to work."
"It's going to be big," agreed one operator at a midtown escort service.
Charging from $300 to upwards of $1,000 for an hour of companionship and a whole lot more, escorts said they can always count on conventioneers for big business.
"It doesn't matter what party you come from," said Robyn Few, a $500-an-hour California call girl who now runs Sex Workers Outreach Project, an advocacy group. "When you want to buy sex, you will."
That's the hope among escort services expecting a windfall from randy Republicans.
"We've got everything organized - the hotels, the flights, the advertisements," said another escort service operator. "We'll probably have 60 girls that week, instead of the usual 30."
Political conventions have long been a boon for the sex industry.
At the 1992 Democratic convention in New York, bikini-clad female oil wrestlers dropped their tops on a flatbed truck in front of Madison Square Garden.
At the 1996 Republican convention in San Diego, an escort service in search of delegate dollars changed its name to GOP: Good Old-Fashioned Pleasure.
While many escort agencies operating on the sly out of Manhattan hotels and apartment buildings welcome the influx of potential customers, others are wary of increased police attention.
"We're just being very secure," said a woman who runs an agency in midtown. "So we won't be taking on any out-of-towners."
NYPD spokesman Sgt. Kevin Hayes said, "Our quality-of-life and crime reduction efforts will remain intact."
Tracy Quan, author of the autobiographical novel, "Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl," said she worries cops will crack down on the most visible sex workers.
"I get depressed whenever there's a big political convention because I know the street girls are going to be hassled, arrested and treated like criminals," Quan said. "All in the name of 'cleaning up' our city for these people from out of town."
The players on the legal end of the city's sex industry have no such worries - and strip club owners are salivating at the prospect of crowds equipped with bunches of big bills.
Clubs have started booking private parties for delegates anxious to ogle topless beauties after a day of watching fully clothed politicians boast about family values.
"We have our show down to a science," said Lonnie Hanover, a spokesman for Scores, the upscale topless club. "We'll be full every night with what we think are the best-looking girls in the industry."
Hanover said Scores - which recently opened a branch just blocks from the Garden - has lined up several big-name entertainers for the convention. "But we don't reveal them," he said.
Probably won't need that type of thing up in Boston for the Democrats. Afterall, they'll already have the media there instead.
But ... where's the story about young boys being flown into Boston in preparation for the DNC? Surely, the Boston Globe is researching that, right?
Unbelievable.
LOL! Beat me to it! Maybe that's the 'swing' vote the Dems are looking for!
Conservatives and strippers? I have a hard time putting them together.
ping
"Clubs have started booking private parties for delegates anxious to ogle topless beauties after a day of watching fully clothed politicians boast about family values."
And hence the hypocrisy of the entire political system.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
LOL.
How 'bout what's his name Ryan in Illinois. Had a number of freepers go on about his conservative qualifications.
I'm guessing, though, that your definition of conservative (and this is not a knock) would not include anyone going to such establishments.
I'm not sure that works as a determining factor, though.
Only a Democrat gets a boost from a sex scandal. A Pubbie's forced to drop out from politics.
That will be the post-convention spin -- "thousands of working women were hoping that the Republican Convention would help them put food on their family's table. But it looks like the penny-pinching Republicans turned a blind-eye to the problems of the little people. GOP Politicians stayed holed-up at the Convention Center, "taking care of the peoples business" -- while outside, the people were hoping in vain for a little business of their own."
I love the smell of objectivity in the morning. Oh, I'm sorry. That was bulls***. Must be my sinuses.
If ya don't think like I do, then you must not be a real conservative!!
Exactly. Dems being the Queer Party would prefer male strippers and prostitutes.Wasn't there a business like that being run out of Barney Frank's basement? Could be boom times ahead...:o
-Eric
And I would imagine that the increase in hooker population planned for NY would be primarily for the press and protester's use....It's not like the protesters have money, especially the kind those ladies willing to stoop that low would demand upon seeing their unkemptness.
-Eric
I bet business is down overall that week. The regular guys are all going to be out of town or lying low, because needs the hassle of dealing with that convention headache and the increased police attention? The additional traffic from the Convention will be nowhere near enough to make up the difference.
The topless joints will do a land-office business, but they will not have the regular heavy hitters dropping the big bucks on Crystal and scrip. They're going to have a bunch of guys from Nebraska wanting to nurse a single beer all night, and complaining about how the beer cost ten bucks. They'll probably lose money too.
But overall, New York City can absorb twenty thousand Republicans and nobody will notice two blocks from the Garden.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.