Whore Corridor

IN announcing plans last week to build a "Convention Corridor" on the Far West Side, Bloomberg and Pataki touted the jobs that would be created in the construction and hotel sectors. By building a 1500-room convention hotel, a sports complex and a 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall, they said that 42,000 temporary construction jobs and 17,500 permanent jobs in the hotel and tourism industries would be generated.

In other words, the expansion of the Javits Center is going to see a whore boom the likes of which this town hasn't seen since the Great Depression.

The project would propel New York from a national ranking of 18th in convention capacity to fifth. Throw in the presence of the New York Jets 10 days a year, an occasional Super Bowl and regular visits by the 2012 Olympics Committee, and you're looking at the most dense and vital adult services industry this side of Bangkok's Patpong district. The trickle-down effect will in turn keep dozens of lingerie boutiques and beauty salons in business during even the worst economic downturns.

Consider the numbers. Due to current inadequate capacity, the Javits Center expects to turn away 800,000 room requests over the next five years. If this results in a loss of even 50,000 erotic encounters at $250 a pop (a low estimate), that's $12.5 million in tax free income that will never enter the local economy. In retail condom and lube sales alone, the loss is staggering.

New York's prostitutes should get a taste of their busy and more prosperous future during this summer's Republican National Convention. When the Democrats held their 2000 convention in Los Angeles, vice operations in Hollywood reported a 50 percent increase in the number of prostitutes on Sunset and Santa Monica boulevards. If this is any guide, we can't wait to see what those leafy convention center promenades along the Hudson will look like in 2015. All those Ohio dentists won't be looking for the Guggenheim.