Commercialized Prostitution in New York CityKneeland, George J. (George Jackson)
History
Commercialized Prostitution in New York City
Kneeland, George J. (George Jackson)
Prostitution -- New York (State) -- New York
X 130 lives at X 131, West 102nd Street, with a friend who has a furnished
apartment. The janitress is named X 132, and X 130 says she does not pay
any attention to what goes on in the tenement so long as the girls do not
become too bold. Some of the prostitutes have been in his tenement as long
as 10 years.
X 130 is a chorus girl during the regular season. She has been with
several well known companies.
X 133 is the janitor at X 134, West 28th Street. Four street walkers bring
men to their rooms in this building for immoral purposes. One of these
women said that they each paid $5 per week to the janitor for the
privilege of using their rooms in this way. The janitor has a family
consisting of his wife and three children. One boy is 10 and the eldest
girl 17 years of age.
On February 13, 1912, between 3.30 and 4.30 P. M., two colored girls who
appeared to be 17 and 18 years of age respectively were soliciting men on
the street to enter a tenement house at X 136, West 40th Street. The
children from Public School No. X 137, a short distance away, were playing
along the street on their way home. The colored girls were particularly
insistent and talked in loud tones intermingled with vile remarks and
oaths. Some of the children who did not appear to be more than 10 or 11
years old noticed the two colored girls and laughed at them, pointing
their fingers.
Seven colored families live in this tenement. The prostitutes who
solicited offered to reduce the price to 50 cents if the hallway were
used. On March 4, 1912, a colored girl entered the hallway with a white
man. The conditions in this building are extremely unsanitary. The
hallways are dark and full of odors, the stairs in a state of
dilapidation.
X 138 and a younger girl rented two rooms in a tenement at X 139, East
122nd Street. On January 30, 1912, about 9.15 P. M., X 138 solicited the
investigator on the street to accompany her to this tenement for immoral
purposes. The girls paid $4 per week for the rooms and the landlord had
told X 138 that they could bring men into the house if they desired. A man
by the name of Louis has tried several times to induce X 138 to enter a
house of prostitution. "This man," said the girl, "is a swell dresser and
wears diamonds." He even went so far one night as to impersonate a
detective and threatened to arrest her for soliciting on the street,
thinking in this way to frighten her into complying with his request. X
138 said that he receives $50 for every girl he secures for houses.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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