In a city that is experiencing a surge in street prostitution, advocates, social services providers and law enforcement are deeply concerned about the prospect of opening casinos in New York City, particularly in Times Square.
It’s a solid bet that a Times Square casino would be a uniquely powerful magnet for sex buyers. Pimps and traffickers will be ready with an endless supply of our most vulnerable people to meet the demand for paid sex acts in the famous — and historically infamous — entertainment district already teeming with millions of tourists and a growing sex trade. They will be ready for a Times Square casino on opening day.
In a recent poll of Midtown voters, two-thirds said they were concerned a Times Square casino would bring sex trafficking to the area — including half of voters who were very concerned. I find it deeply troubling that in spite of the clear dangers, the Legislature has attempted to accelerate the timeline to site a casino in the city.
Few like to talk about it, but casinos have always served as a means and a destination for sex trafficking across the country. From Las Vegas to Atlantic City, hotel-casinos have clear and deep links to the sexploitation economy.
A sampling of criminal cases in 2024: A 14-year-old trafficked at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City; a 16-year-old runaway trafficked at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and a China-linked prostitution business run out of the MGM Grand Detroit, where authorities seized $40,000 in Canadian and U.S. currency and 22 cellphones.
A Times Square casino will not be an exception.
On the witness stand in Manhattan late last year, a survivor of prostitution recounted that her “day shift” in Times Square started around 8:30 in the morning and that sex buyer tourists and convention goers were well versed in where and how to buy sex. She testified that her pimp-imposed quota was $1,000, and her “shift” didn’t end until she met it.
Despite the glossy Hollywood fare that sanitizes prostitution, the realities of the sex trade reveal unspeakable degradation and violence against mostly women and girls of color at the hands of sex buyers and pimps. The harm they face can be severe and bring life-long trauma.
“Casinos and co-located lodging facilities — coupled with the transient nature of sex trafficking – provide convenience and cover for sex traffickers,” details one analysis in Security Management magazine. “Normal casino hotel activity, with hundreds of patrons arriving and leaving the facility on a 24/7 basis… conceals the trafficker’s activity and the environment provides a potential customer base for the illegal business.”
While these concerns apply to any casino, they have particular resonance for Times Square. Already one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world and drawing 50 million visitors per year, it is known for its night activity, with nearly 100,000 pedestrians in the streets between sundown and 1 a.m.
A casino could turn Times Square into a de facto red-light district, undoing a generation of work to make the area safer and more welcoming.
That’s in no small part because of Times Square’s proximity to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Penn Station. Both hubs are historically major entry points for troubled runaway teens and young adults where they are easy prey for exploiters. So rampant, the Port Authority has its own human trafficking unit.
A recent criminal case illustrates the underground market. A Greyhound employee would spot vulnerable young people and steer them to waiting “friends” with a promise of food and shelter — ensnaring them in a world of abuse and exploitation.
The local youth shelters, programs and group homes operating in Midtown that I’ve spoken with already struggle with traffickers waiting across the street, ready to lure the young people seeking services into prostitution.
The Administration for Children’s Services estimated that more than 2,000 young people had been sexually exploited or were at risk of exploitation in New York City in 2019 alone.
We also have to grapple with the painful fact that tens of thousands of asylum seekers facing hardship right now are also at risk of commercial sexual exploitation.
The business interests vying to make Times Square a gambling destination expect us to ignore the overwhelming evidence that casinos bring increased crime, prostitution and sex trafficking.
We cannot stand idly by, and watch this sad retreat in the important fight against the exploitation of women, girls and the most vulnerable among us.
Ossorio is the executive director of the National Organization of Women (NOW) NYC, which is a member of the No Times Square Casino Coalition.