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Municipalities throughout the country regulate
the locations of adult entertainment establishments
to limit their impacts on neighborhoods and the
quality of life. Despite the recent proliferation
of such uses in New York City — an increase
of 35 percent in 10 years — current zoning
regulations do not distinguish adult entertainment
establishments from similar commercial uses without
an "adult character." For example, triple-X
(XXX) video stores and video stores that do not
purvey pornography are regulated identically in
the Zoning Resolution. The Department of City
Planning (DCP) undertook the "Adult Entertainment
Study" to determine the nature and extent
of the secondary impacts of adult entertainment
uses on communities in the city. The Study includes:
(1) a survey of existing studies concerning the
impacts of adult entertainment establishments
and regulations of such establishments in other
localities; (2) a description of the adult entertainment
business in New York City; (3) a review of studies
and reports on adult entertainment establishments
in New York City; (4) a DCP survey of the impacts
such establishments have on communities in the
City; and, (5) overall study findings and conclusion.
Background
In 1977, after concluding that adult entertainment
uses had negative impacts on communities, the
City Planning Commission (CPC) proposed new zoning
regulations distinguishing adult entertainment
uses and restricting their potential locations.
The proposal was withdrawn at the Board of Estimate
due to a lack of consensus regarding the appropriate
extent of such regulations and concern that the
regulations being proposed might result in the
movement of adult uses to new locations.
The recent proliferation of adult entertainment
establishments, often identified by graphic signage,
has led to widespread concern about potential
deterioration in the quality of life in many of
the city's neighborhoods. Some residents, concerned
about the negative impacts of adult uses in their
neighborhoods and fearful of the potential results
of proliferation, have organized ad hoc groups
and appealed to local officials to have them closed
down. Such local opposition ultimately resulted
in the voluntary closing of adult video stores
and bars in Astoria, Jackson Heights, Chelsea,
Murray Hill, Forest Hills, and Bay Ridge. Two
bills have been introduced in the City Council
to regulate the location of adult entertainment
uses. A resolution has also been introduced at
the Council calling for zoning amendments to restrict
adult entertainment uses.
The consensus among those expressing opposition
to the operation of adult uses is that adult entertainment
establishments have a negative impact on the communities
in which they are located. These impacts include:
inappropriate exposure of children and teenagers
to graphic sexual images, increased crime, diminishing
property values, adverse effects upon the climate
for other types of commercial activities, and
overall negative influences upon community character.
Recent Trends
in the Location of Adult Entertainment Uses
After burgeoning growth in the early 1970's,
the number of adult entertainment establishments
in the city declined by 13 percent from 151 in
1976 to 131 in 1984. [Historical data was obtained
from various sources. Caution should be exercised
in interpreting trend data because the defining
characteristics of adult use may vary among sources.]
By 1993, however, DCP identified 177 such establishments
with assistance from the 59 Community Boards.
This represents an increase of 35 percent over
the last decade. Should this growth continue at
the same rate, an additional 60 adult entertainment
establishments will be operating in the city by
the year 2002. The DCP survey focused on three
types of uses: triple-X video and bookstores,
adult live or movie theaters, and topless or nude
bars. These adult uses were further limited to
those which identified themselves as "adult,"
through signage or other advertising. The survey
may understate the total number of adult entertainment
uses. The locations of these establishments are
shown on a map following page 19. More than 75
percent of the adult establishments were located
in zoning districts that permit residences. Since
the survey was completed, several new adult entertainment
establishment have opened.
The production and distribution of sexually explicit
materials has changed dramatically in recent years.
Adult material is more readily accessible than
it used to be, and a greater variety of products
are available to segments of the adult entertainment
audience - both inexpensive material and fancier
entertainment are more readily available than
ten years ago. In particular, triple-X videos
are now produced cheaply and sold for prices below
$5, whereas only a few years ago adult films commanded
prices of approximately $100. In addition there
are more topless bars than previously, due to
a proliferation of topless bars affecting an "upscale"
image. Partially as a result of these changes
in the adult use industry, adult entertainment
establishments are now found more widely throughout
the city.
In terms of their location, adult entertainment
uses have continued an historical tendency to
concentrate in specific areas. Over the last ten
years most adult entertainment establishments
have continued to concentrate within a few community
districts in Manhattan. However, within that period
the number of community districts citywide with
seven or more adult entertainment establishments
nearly tripled, from three to eight. Between 1984
and 1993, the number of adult bookstores/peep
shows/video stores increased citywide from 29
to 86 establishments. Within this category, 74
percent consisted of adult video stores, none
of which were noted in the 1984 survey. Adult
movie and live theaters continued to decline from
48 in 1984 to 23 in 1993. Topless and nude bars
increased by 26 percent in the same time period,
from 54 to 68.
Impacts Found and
Regulations in Other Localities
Other jurisdictions that have studied the effects
of adult entertainment uses have consistently
found that these uses have negative secondary
impacts. This has been the case for large cities
(such as Chicago and Los Angeles), medium-sized
cities (such as Austin, Texas) and small villages
(such as Islip, New York). Similar negative secondary
impacts (e.g., a relationship between the concentration
of adult entertainment uses and increased incidence
of crime) have been found despite widespread variation
in land usepatterns and other local conditions.
While New York may differ from these other jurisdictions
in certain respects, their experience with adult
entertainment uses is highly relevant to consideration
of the need for some form of regulation. Both
the United States Supreme Court and the New York
Court of Appeals have recognized that, in adopting
regulations, a municipality may rely on the experiences
of other jurisdictions that have determined that
adult uses have secondary impacts. Relevant studies
from other jurisdictions include the following:
The Town of Islip, in Suffolk County on Long
Island, prohibited adult uses from locating in
downtown commercial areas because they would produce
a "dead zone" that shoppers would avoid.
Other government efforts to revitalize or stabilize
these areas and attract private investment would
be impacted negatively.
The City of Indianapolis, Indiana, conducted
national and local surveys of real estate appraisers
regarding the impact of adult uses on property
values in middle-income residential neighborhoods.
A majority of the appraisers, seventy five percent,
responded that such a use located within one block
of such a residential neighborhood would have
a negative effect on the value of both residential
and commercial properties.
The City of Whittier, California, in a study
of the impacts of adult establishments found higher
turnover rates in commercial and residential areas
adjacent to adult uses. The study also compared
38 types of criminal activity over two time periods,
showing a total increase of 102 percent for the
study area containing adult businesses, while
the city as a whole had only an eight percent
increase.
A study by the City of Austin, Texas, compared
areas with adult businesses to other areas containing
similar land uses but no adult businesses, and
found a sex crimes rate between two and five times
greater in the areas with adult businesses. The
study also showed that the sex-related crime rate
was 66 percent higher in areas having two or more
adult businesses than in those areas having only
one such business.
Phoenix, Arizona, studied the relationship between
arrests for sex crimes and the locations of adult
businesses, and found an overall increase of six
times the sex crime rate in the study areas with
adult uses over the control areas without such
uses.
The State of Minnesota reported that a study
conducted in that state examining the effects
of sexually-oriented businesses upon property
values and crime rates indicated that such businesses
had a strong negative impact on the crime rate.
The addition of one sexually-oriented business
to a census tract area caused an increase in the
overall crime rate index in that area by more
than nine percent. In another state study, it
was determined that there was a statistically
significant correlation between the location of
adult businesses and neighborhood deterioration.
Housing values were significantly lower in an
area with three adult businesses than in an area
with only one adult business. Also, there was
a significantly higher crime rate associated with
two adult businesses in an area than was associated
with only one adult business in an area.
Many other cities currently regulate adult uses
differently from other commercial uses and several
of these are discussed later in this study. Most
often, these regulations disperse such uses rather
than concentrating them in any particular area
of the municipality and may also exclude them
from certain areas. For example, Los Angeles,
California, generally prohibits new adult uses
from locating within a certain distance of another
such use. Los Angeles enacted its dispersal zoning
after a study concluded that the concentration
of adult uses had negative impacts on criminal
activity, property values, and public perceptions
of the quality of life.
Impacts Identified
in Studies in New York City
Several studies have identified the impacts associated
with adult entertainment establishments in New
York City. In 1977, the City Planning Commission
proposed a zoning plan to limit the concentration
of adult uses after relating the proliferation
of such establishments to economic decline, and
finding a linkage between increased numbers of
felonies and the concentrations of adult uses.
In 1993, the Chelsea Business Survey concluded,
after surveying 100 businesses located in that
community, that dispersal zoning should be enacted
to prevent the transformation of Chelsea into
a red light district. A majority of the businesses
surveyed felt that a recent proliferation of adult
entertainment establishments in Chelsea had hurt
them economically.
This year, the Times Square Business Improvement
District (TSBID), after conducting a study of
the secondary effects of the concentration of
adult use establishments in the Times Square area,
called for the dispersal of adult uses in commercial
and manufacturing areas. The TSBID study shows
that the rate of increase in assessed values for
blocks with an adult use did not increase as much
as the rate of increase on nearby control blocks
without adult uses. The study also notes that
there were almost twice as many complaints about
crime for the study blocks with adult establishments
as nearby control blocks without adult uses. Property
and business owners expressed the view that adult
uses located in the area, particularly in concentration,
have had a negative impact on their businesses,
deterring potential customers.
DCP, as part of this Study, selected six study
areas where adult uses were located. Because Times
Square was already being studied by TSBID, DCP's
selected study areas which had lesser concentrations
of adult uses. Most of the areas are in the other
boroughs and in some cases contained only a single
isolated adult entertainment use. DCP surveyed
representatives from community boards, local organizations
and local businesses, as well as real estate brokers,
police and sanitation officers, and representatives
of the adult entertainment industry to gather
information on land use, street conditions, signage,
and impacts. An analysis of assessed values and
crime data was also made. The six study areas
are shown on the map following page 49.
Many residents and community organizations cited
adult entertainment establishments as having significant
or potentially significant negative impacts in
their communities. Real estate brokers indicated
that such establishments have negative impacts
on property values. These findings are consistent
with the data found in the TSBID study and the
Chelsea Business Survey, along with other data
described in more detail in this report.
In some cases, particularly in study areas with
only one adult entertainment establishment, the
DCP survey did not yield conclusive evidence of
a direct relationship between the adult use and
the urban ills affecting the community. This reflects
the fact that, in a city as dense and diverse
as New York, it is difficult to isolate specific
impacts attributable to any particular land use.
Other cities that have conducted similar studies
have acknowledged this same difficulty. For instance,
the Los Angeles City Planning Department concluded
that while assessed valuation of properties in
areas characterized by adult uses "generally"
tended to increase to a lesser degree than similar
control areas, "there was insufficient evidence
to support the contention that concentrations
of sex-related businesses have been the primary
cause of these patterns". Adult entertainment
businesses were nevertheless perceived by the
majority of the Los Angeles respondents as exerting
a negative impact on surrounding business and
residential properties. Whether or not such negative
impacts had actually occurred, or were only perceived
to have occurred, could not always be determined
by the survey, but the study concluded that "in
terms of the attitudes of the respondents towards
such businesses, the conclusion must be drawn
that the overall effect on surrounding properties
is considered to be negative."
DCP's survey identified strong concerns about
the negative impacts of adult uses similar to
those found in the Los Angeles study. Even in
those study areas where it could not be readily
determined that negative impacts were already
being felt, there was a strong body of opinion,
especially among residents, that adult entertainment
uses were having negative impacts and that a further
proliferation of these uses in the community would
lead to a neighborhood deterioration. The experience
of urban planners and real estate appraisers indicates
that negative perceptions associated with an area
can lead to disinvestment in residential neighborhoods
and a tendency to shun shopping streets where
unsavory activities are occurring, leading to
economic decline. The forces that influence real
estate value are described as follows: "The
market value of real property reflects and is
affected by the interplay of basic forces that
motivate the activities of human beings. These
forces, which produce the variables in real estate
market values, may be considered in four major
categories: social ideals and standards
(emphasis added), economic changes and adjustments,
governmental controls and regulation, and physical
or environmental changes." ["The Appraisal
of Real Property," seventh edition, by the American
Institute of Real Estate Appraisers.] The attitudinal
data in the survey is thus significant even in
those instances where the current negative impacts
of adult entertainment establishments are difficult
to measure.
Fear of the potential proliferation of adult
uses is a well founded concern. Taken alone it
may not seem significant if someone smokes in
a subway car, scribbles graffiti, jumps a subway
turnstile, aggressively panhandles or squeegees
a car windshield, particularly in a city where
there are other pressing problems such as homelessness,
violent crime and unemployment. But when these
small incidents, and establishments, proliferate
and accumulate, they can tear at the urban fabric.
Similarly, as the city's experience in the Times
Square area indicates, the proliferation of adult
uses in an area does have significant and potentially
devastating impacts on the character of a community.
The City has adopted an aggressive and comprehensive
policy of addressing various quality-of-life issues
that has begun to yield beneficial results. The
problems posed by adult entertainment establishments
are among the important quality-of-life issues
that affect our neighborhoods and communi ties.
Overall Findings and
Conclusion
- Numerous studies in other localities
found that adult entertainment uses have negative
secondary impacts such as increased crime rates,
depreciation of property values, deterioration
of community character and the quality of urban
life.
- There has been a rapid growth in
the number of adult entertainment uses in New
York City. Between 1984 and 1993, the number
of such uses increased from 131 to 177. The
number of video/book stores/peep shows almost
tripled and there was a 26 percent increase
in topless/nude bars. Adult theaters declined
by 52 percent.
- Adult entertainment is more readily
accessible in NYC than it was ten years ago.
There are more such establishments in a greater
number of communities. Adult videos are produced
in greater numbers and at lower costs. They
are often available in general interest video
stores as well as those devoted exclusively
to adult entertainment. Cable television has
significantly increased the availability of
adult viewing material. Adult material is also
available at newsstands and book stores.
- Adult entertainment uses tend to
concentrate. The number of community districts
with seven or more adult uses increased from
three to eight over the last ten years. Seventy
five percent of the adult uses are located in
ten of the city's 59 Community Districts. In
Manhattan, adult uses cluster in central locations,
such as the Times Square area. In the other
boroughs, adult uses appear to cluster along
major vehicular routes, such as Queens Boulevard
and Third Avenue in Brooklyn, that connect outer
reaches of the city and suburbs to the central
business district .
- Studies of adult entertainment uses
in areas where they are highly concentrated,
such as Times Square and Chelsea, identified
a number of significant negative secondary impacts.
In the Times Square area property owners, theater
operators and other business people overwhelmingly
believe that their businesses are adversely
affected. An analysis of criminal complaints
indicated a substantially higher incidence of
criminal activity in the Times Square area where
adult uses are most concentrated. In addition,
the study found that the rate of increase in
assessed property values for study blocks with
adult uses grew at a slower rate than control
blocks without adult uses.
- DCP's survey of areas with less
dense concentrations of adult uses found fewer
impacts than the study of the Times Square area.
However, community leaders expressed concerns
that adult uses impact negatively on the community
and they strongly fear the potential results
of proliferation.
- The strongest negative reactions
to adult entertainment uses come from residents
living near them.
- Where respondents indicated that
their businesses or neighborhoods had not yet
been adversely affected by adult uses, this
typically occurred in study areas with isolated
adult uses. Moreover, these same respondents
typically stated that an increase in such uses
would negatively impact them. Community residents
fear the consequences of potential proliferation
and concentration of adult uses in traditionally
neighborhood-oriented shopping areas and view
the appearance of one or more of these uses
as a deterioration in the quality of urban life.
- Most real estate brokers report
that adult entertainment establishments are
perceived to negatively affect nearby property
values and decrease market values. Eighty percent
of the brokers responding to the DCP survey
indicated that an adult use would have a negative
impact on nearby property values. This is consistent
with the responses from a similar national survey
of real estate appraisers.
- Adult use accessory business signs
are generally larger, more often illuminated,
and graphic (sexually-oriented) compared with
the signs of other nearby commercial uses. Community
residents view this signage as out of keeping
with neighborhood character and are concerned
about the exposure of minors to sexual images.
Based on these findings, DCP believes it is appropriate
to regulate adult entertainment establishments
differently from other commercial establishments.
The experience of other jurisdictions, the city's
historic experience in Times Square, studies performed
by the TSBID and the Chelsea Business Survey,
and DCP's own survey, establish the negative effects
of adult entertainment uses. Consideration of
the specific nature and extent of regulations
that would be appropriate for adult entertainment
establishments in New York City was not within
the scope of this Study. However, in light of
the negative impacts of adult uses in concentration,
the following regulatory techniques, which have
been used in other jurisdictions, merit consideration
in developing adult use regulations: restrictions
on the location of adult uses in proximity to
residential areas, to houses of worship, to schools
and to each other.
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