FROM THE NEW YORKER (10/19/92) A review of the book THE CITY OF EROS NEW YORK CITY, PROSTI

FROM THE NEW YORKER (10/19/92)

A review of the book

THE CITY OF EROS: NEW YORK CITY, PROSTITUTION, AND THE COMMERCIALIZATION
OF SEX, 1790-1920 by Timothy J. Gilfoyle (Norton; $24.95)

In 1857, the rector of Trinity Church told the richest congregation in
New York City, "During a ministry of more than fifty years I have not
been in a house of ill-fame more than ten times!"  What surprised his
listeners was not his admission but his moderation.  New York's 
expansion in the ninteenth century attracted foreign immigrants and
rural migrants, a disproportionate number of them men.  The lack of
decent jobs for women meant that prostitution was the most lucrative
vocation available.  With supply and demand in place, a booming market
in sexual relations emerged.  Mr. Gilford maps the development of
New York's sex districts, explains the economics of the skin trade, and
recounts major scandals of the period.  Parts of his story are 
startling: girls under fifteen provided a significant proportion of the
city's prostitutes (for much of the century the legal age of consent
was ten).  Their youth made them less likely to become pregnant (a plus
for madams) and less likely to carry disease (a plus for customers).
Mr. Gilfoyle's book combines prodigious research with an easy
narrative style, and where evidence is thin he offers well-reasoned
speculation rather than scholarly prevarication.

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Dave Myers