De Blasio and Cuomo move to decriminalize sex work in New York

In his quest to return New York City to the bad old days, when prostitutes openly walked the streets of midtown Manhattan and Times Square was an open-air drug market, Mayor Bill de Blasio is looking to "decriminalize" sex work.

"It's time to decriminalize sex workers and focus our enforcement on those who exploit and profit off a broken system," de Blasio said.

"We are calling on the State to end criminal penalties for sex workers and help us reach those in need without requiring involvement with the criminal justice system."

This mission is going so well, that in the borough of Queens, nearly 700 cases against prostitutes have been dismissed—and that was just on Tuesday.

On the same day that de Blasio sought to decriminalize sex work, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz moved to dismiss the cases against those who were charged with "loitering for the purpose of prostitution." The law against that was repealed in New York, signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

That repeal, Senate Bill S1351, stated that it's intent was to "repeal a section of the Penal Law that has led to arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement by targeting women from marginalized groups that are at high risk for sex trafficking and other exploitation and abuse." The bill to repeal was sponsored by New York State Senator Brad Hoylman, whose district covers Manhattan's Upper West Side, south into Midtown, down to Greenwich Village, and the East Village.

The concern was that the law targeted women, transgender identified sex workers, and sex workers of color based entirely on those factors of their identity alone, and not because they were engaged in a crime under the New York penal code. Loitering for the purposes of prostitution was considered a misdemeanor.

Katz said that "Historical data shows that enforcement of this statute had primarily been used to arrest people based on their gender or appearance. Dismissing cases related to this unfair and now repealed statute frees members of our community from the collateral consequences of their arrests," according to ABC.

These moves come because lawmakers have changed their view of what prostitution is, no longer believing it a crime in itself but a consequence of another crime, that of human trafficking. Instead of prosecuting those who engage in this illegal activity, the women will be provided with help.

The charges that were dropped in Queens include: "146 cases of defendants with outstanding warrants on open cases charging 240.37 and related charges. 84 cases of defendants with outstanding warrants on cases charging 240.37 and related charges who failed to appear after pleading guilty. 443 cases of defendants with outstanding warrants on pending cases charging 230.00 (prostitution) and related charges."

It is worth noting that after Mayor Rudy Giuliani cleaned up Times Square in the 1990s, which had been a notorious, decades-old red light district, the strip clubs and prostitutes took their business to Queens. Now, per Katz's decision to drop the charges and the state and city's decision to decriminalize prostitution, sex workers, those who profit from their services and those who seek them, will operate with impunity.

Katz's plan is to "Instead of prosecuting these defendants... provide a helping hand by connecting them with meaningful services, support options and the necessary tools that will assist them to safely exit the sex trade if that is what they choose to do."

To this end, the de Blasio administration has earmarked $4 million in services for sex workers. As cited in his book Dumb and Dumber, Matt Palumbo pointed out that this $4 million approved in August 2020, came at a time when over $5 billion was cut from the city budget for necessary services.

At the time, the New York Post wrote that "The funds will pay vendors for housing, medical care, job training, legal services, and street outreach to prostitutes," though that same budget cut funding for charities that were already providing those services.