In a city that is seeing a rise in street prostitution, disability rights advocates, social service providers and law enforcement are deeply concerned about the prospect of casinos opening in New York City, particularly in Times Square.
It’s a safe bet that a casino in Times Square would be a particularly powerful magnet for sex buyers. Pimps and traffickers will be ready to provide an endless supply of our most vulnerable to meet the demand for paid sex acts in the famous—and historically infamous—entertainment district that already teems with millions of tourists and a growing sex trade. They’ll be ready to welcome a casino to Times Square on opening day.
In a recent poll Among Midtown voters, two-thirds said they were concerned that a casino in Times Square would bring sex trafficking to the area, including half of voters who said they were very concerned. I find it deeply troubling that despite the obvious dangers, the Legislature has attempted to accelerate the timeline for a casino in the city.
Few people like to talk about it, but casinos have historically served as a means and destination for sex trafficking across the country. From Las Vegas to Atlantic City, casino hotels have clear and deep ties to the sex trafficking economy.
A sampling of criminal cases in 2024: a 14-year-old boy 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 by the MGM Grand Detroit, where authorities seized $40,000 in Canadian and U.S. currency and 22 cellphones.
A Times Square casino will be no exception.
On the witness stand in Manhattan late last year, a prostitution victim testified that her “day shift” in Times Square began around 8:30 a.m. and that sex tourists and convention attendees knew exactly where and how to buy sex. She testified that her pimp’s quota was $1,000, and that her “shift” didn’t end until she reached that.
Despite Hollywood movies that sanitize prostitution, the realities of the sex trade reveal unspeakable degradation and violence, primarily against women and girls of color, at the hands of sex buyers and pimps. The harm they experience can be severe and lead to lifelong trauma.
“Casinos and lodging establishments located in close proximity to each other, combined with the transient nature of sex trafficking, provide comfort and cover for sex traffickers,” details an analysis published in Security Management magazine. “The normal operation of a casino hotel, with hundreds of customers arriving and leaving the establishment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week … conceals the trafficker’s activity and the environment provides a potential customer base for the illegal activity.”
While these concerns apply to all casinos, they have particular resonance for Times Square. Already one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions, drawing 50 million visitors a year, it is known for its nighttime activity, with nearly 100,000 pedestrians on the streets between sunset 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 neighborhood safer and more welcoming.
This is largely due to Times Square’s proximity to the Port Authority bus terminal and Penn Station. Both hubs have historically been major entry points for troubled teens and young adults who are easy prey for exploiters. Human trafficking is so prevalent that the Port Authority has its own anti-human trafficking unit.
A recent criminal case illustrates the underground market. A Greyhound employee would identify vulnerable youth and direct them to waiting “friends” with promises of food and shelter, trapping them in a world of abuse and exploitation.
The local youth shelters, programs and group homes operating in Midtown that I spoke with are already dealing with traffickers waiting across the street, ready to lure youth seeking services into prostitution.
Administration for Children’s Services estimated that more than 2,000 young people were sexually exploited or at risk of being sexually exploited in New York City in 2019 alone.
We must also face the painful fact that tens of thousands of asylum seekers facing hardship at this time are also at risk of commercial sexual exploitation.
The business interests fighting to make Times Square a gambling destination expect us to ignore the overwhelming evidence that casinos lead to increased crime, prostitution and sex trafficking.
We cannot stand by and watch this sad setback 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 for Women (NOW) of New York, which is a member of the No Times Square Casino Coalition.
