Turf Wars: Prostitutes and NIMBYs in Philadelphia
Last night I ran for a seat on the Washington Square West Civic Association‘s board and got a three-year term. I’m really excited to use the board as a way to get more involved in my community, and particularly to engage the young people who live and work in the neighborhood.
One of the nicest streets in Washington Square West.
At the annual meeting last night, conversation got most heated around the new bike lanes on Spruce and Pine (mostly everyone loved them, but obviously not everyone loves bikers), but many times came back to the petty crime and illegal sex that plagues the neighborhood. I remember a particularly poignant moment when a white-haired lady mentioned how often there are used condoms on the walkway outside her house. Others mentioned tactics to try to dissuade sex acts from happening right outside their houses such as installing outdoor lights, or just returning home earlier so as not to be accosted by prostitutes. The neighborhood is home to hospitals and a medical school, which often require doctors to walk to work in the middle of the night — a simple task that is made difficult by the fact that there are people selling sex and drugs on the street at all hours. Many complained about the police’s apathy to the problem — few officers in our precinct are certified to arrest for “vice”, others don’t bother arresting the prostitutes because the arrest process can often take too long. But the conversation made two things clear: prostitution is a problem that no one knows how to solve and that bothers almost everyone.
A wig that was left on the street.
I clean up the area around and under my stoop at least once a week. Yesterday was a typical catch — a box of condoms, one or two used ones, some tall cans of beer, tiny plastic bags used for drugs. This time, however, there was a new element: human feces. I’ve been almost amused by litter that collects on and around my stoop. There are days when I come home from work to find someone’s half-eaten sandwich or coffee cup by my mail slot. Other times when there’s an empty box of cigarettes or a spare shoe. But the crap really got to me. When I got home from the WSWCA meeting and talked to my housemate, she mentioned she found a crack pipe on the front step Saturday morning. I’m growing weary. And the conclusion I’ve drawn is that prostitution and drugs go hand in hand; and they also lead to disrespect for the neighborhood, in terms of litter and petty crime. All of which lead to disgruntled citizens, all of which leads to Philadelphia’s population problem and its reputation for being a dirty, crime-ridden, unpleasant city.
The neighborhood tolerates the prostitution and the drugs and the disturbing behavior that goes with it for a number of reasons. I asked my 80-year-old neighbor why so little has been done about it and she mentioned that prostitution has been centered in the neighborhood for as long as she’s lived in the area. It was centered at 13th and Locust and pre-dated the gay bars that have changed the sex trade’s clientele. The police have moved the center of the trade by a few blocks here and there, but it remains centered in the neighborhood. Why is it tolerated? I’m guessing because it’s Philadelphia, a city which often expects too little of itself — I think most people don’t want to rock the boat or complain, because, well, the neighborhood could be much worse. Maybe people think that there are worse problems to have than prostitutes and crack. At least the neighborhood is largely nonviolent and has vibrant businesses. And no one wants the neighborhood to gentrify too much. Some people think it would it be better to have a few prostitutes and a little crack than to change as New York City’s Meatpacking District did from the locus of clubs and prostitutes to an inauthentic strip of expensive clothing boutiques and overpriced restaurants. And on days when there’s no crap outside my house, I tend to agree. Lastly, prostitution will never completely disappear, so people throw their hands in the air.
A typical small business in the Washington Square West neighborhood.
Isn’t it possible to crack down on the crack and the prostitution and keep Washington Square West a vibrant, livable place? I’m going to start to do research on some best practices in other cities, but I’m curious to know if anyone out there knows of other cities or neighborhoods that have had similar problems but resolved them in a way that satisfies most stakeholders?
Diana Lind is editor in chief of Next American City magazine.
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Design New Haven on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 11:54am
SeeClickFix has worked very well in New Haven - since there are so many (100s) of people, groups and city officials watching their neighborhood districts, issues such as graffiti, vandalism, potholes and minor crime problems are often resolved within hours.
It has been pretty amazing to watch the transformation since the site took hold over the past year.
I know that Logan Square and Society Hill are among the neighborhoods in Philadelphia who now have “watch areas” on the site. IdleFreePhilly also uses it—article in today’s Philly Inquirer: http://bit.ly/GYL0r
Diana Lind on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:12pm
Good idea. I actually have proposed integrating SeeClickFix in to the WSWCA site. And I created the watch area for Wash West. Many people last night mentioned just calling 911 about it because it gets put into a log and might tip the police off to the problem. I know SeeClickFix is integrated with the city’s 311, so that could be another way of dealing with it.
Design New Haven on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:16pm
Do the police captains in your area use blackberries? Emailing them is also a good strategy for tipping off the police to “hot” issues.
Calling emergency hotlines creates a log, but I’m not sure it creates the kind of direct and timely (e.g., within hours) response that is so critical for addressing quality of life problems.
In New Haven, issues on SeeClickFix are sent directly to NHPD supervisors’ blackberries.
Diana Lind on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:28pm
No, I don’t believe they use Blackberrys. Good idea. I think the problem is less the fact that police aren’t responding on time, but that Wash West hasn’t made it clear to the precinct that this is a pressing issue that needs to be resolved.
BradyDale in Philadelphia, PA on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:51pm
I wrote some papers on this topic when I was in college, back in 99. In my researches back then, I found that the best way to deal with prostitution is to get it indoors. Brothels and call-girls are actually pretty good for business. Just not streetwalkers. When I was looking into it, New York had successfully moved out street prostitutes while dramatically ramping up on its call girl business.
At the same time Giuliani was crowing about getting whores out of Times Square, the number of yellow pages devoted to “escort agencies” ramped up dramatically.
Vice did nothing.
Whereas in Buffalo, which will never be a tourist town, they went after escort agencies with fake johns and fake services. No such effort in NYC.
Not sure how you translate that to Washington Square, tho. A non-profit that set up a “home” for streetwalkers and looked the other way about their “personal business”??
Ben in seeclickfix.com on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 3:04pm
Here’s one of the prostitution issues mark was referring to in New Haven:
http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/7694
Photo included :-)
Here’s my take on this:
The happy middle between gentrification and deprivation lies in the community that chooses to fend for itself. Neighborhoods where homeowners and renters take care of their own get rid of the bad, enjoy the place they live and do not move out leaving no room for flash mob gentrification. The larger and stronger the network of people you have looking out for a community the more that network will thrive and protect itself from outside forces be it prostitutes or suits.
If you miss your prostitutes when you get rid of them I’m sure you can always request to have the back via SeeClickFix as well.
I saw you created a watch for your neighborhood: http://www.seeclickfix.com/watch_area/1263
Will be cool t see what happens once your neighbors start signing up to receive alerts.
Design New Haven on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 3:11pm
Thanks for posting those links, Ben.
I hadn’t seen that issue in New Haven before and I’m happy to know that it was quickly resolved.
I agree that having a few more people following each “watch area” is a great way to get the action really going and get things solved quickly.
Taking quick action is the single most important factor for quality of life issues in terms of making sure they don’t happen again.
Lee in Chatham Square Neighborhood, New Haven CT on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 4:29pm
In Chatham Square Neighborhood a group of women organized by a resident eliminated prostitution by creating a walking group. The group never engaged in policing activities they just walked, together making sure they warmly greeting each man they saw in a car with a wave and eye contact, the men seeking prostitutes do not want that sort of a “connection” with women, it makes them uncomfortable. In a very short time, about a month, the men stopped showing up at the park. When the customers stopped coming to the park the “service providers” moved on as well. Through this action the walking group organizer met her neighbors, together, they reduced prostitution in the park to zero and three years later their collective health is greatly improved.
Modesto in Resident Wash Sq West on Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 12:59pm
I’m a resident of this beautiful neighborhood and, like the writer of this article, disgusted by the fact that there is such a prevalence of drugs and prostitution in this particular area (even though I’ve been also told that it is better now than before). We’ve done some research of our own and an alley in my little oasis in the city is widely publicized as a “destination” for sex in a nationwide blog site.
What we have been informed by the police that the best thing to do is call 911 immediately when one witnesses the act or sees suspicious activity. They do keep a log and the number of calls do determine their beat routes, not just the cops sitting on their patrol cars.
As far as iniciatives we and my immediate neighbors have taken:
1. flood the street with light and provide a non discreet venue for these acts. The problem is that some of the offenders just don’t care how much light there is, they just want to do their thing and move on to next one.
2. be mindful of who’s walking the street and, similar to the ladies in the park, engage those who come by and let them know that you are aware and mindful of what it is they are doing.
We still find a variety of condoms and cigarrette butts, less amounts now with the improved lighting, but the fact that the neighborhood continues to be plagued by this and has a reputation for it is not helping me feel at ease with raising my family here in Philly. Escaping to the suburbs is not our idea of living either.
Ryan Caviglia in Overbrook, Philadelphia on Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 1:59pm
The issue of prostitution brings so little readily used solutions because of two issues: a lack of political will to make prostitution a felony (which would lead to longer jail sentences for repeat offenders and especially their clients); and the lack of seriousness with which an issue that affects many women on desperate need of social services/psychological help is taken.
Prostitution affects the quietest neighborhoods in Philadelphia and other cities. At the lower end of Overbrook (Race, Vine Streets west of 63rd), prostitution takes place on a small scale, with residents and police alike quite aware of it and confounded about how to eradicate it. No one comes to offer the women alternatives or treatment for drug addiction (plaguing nearly all of the women in my community’s prostitution ring). Further, if police are to be involved, the misdemeanor status of this crime is not worth filling jails about as prostitutes are released easily, and “johns” aren’t disciplined beyond a fine, usually.
The other element in play is that residents, busy with daily life, and not afraid of prostitution because it isn’t exclusively a violent crime, often do not unite behind fighting this issue because they are “used to it” or resigned to it being around, especially since police can only offer stop-gap solutions.
Much like the issue of drug use/dealing, until prostitution is treated as symptomatic of a crime that must be treated and not solely punished, we will not see long-lasting decreases in incidences of this crime in neighborhoods where it transpires.
NDJ in Philadelphia, PA on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 3:18pm
As a long time frequenter and now current resident of the neighborhood, I understand the hostility and frustration toward the clearly visible prostitution that occurs nightly. I would say that the two biggest problems would be the trash that gets left behind (i.e. food, wigs, condoms) and the noise, which can be quite irritating at 3 AM. I know many friends that have been awoken in the middle of the night due to the loud activity on the streets below, usually as a result of a squabble between the “ladies”. I agree that increased outside lighting and proactive neighborhood watch would greatly reduce the activity. However, as recently shown, the best solution to the problem has been the ongoing redevelopment and investment of neighborhood properties. For example, look at 12th and Spruce street. With the opening of the upscale wine bar TRIA and the planned apartment redevelopment across the street, the prostitutes literally have no where to sell. Force them out. As Jane Jacobs stated, we need to add more “eyes on the street” to deter crime and suspicious activity. Take back the sidewalks.