Times Square casino means a red light district

In a city where street prostitution is on the rise, advocates, social service providers and law enforcement officials are deeply concerned about the possibility of opening casinos in New York City, particularly in Times Square.

It’s a safe 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 to meet the demand for paid sex acts in the famous — and historically infamous — entertainment district, already teeming with millions of tourists and a booming sex trade. They’ll be ready for a Times Square casino on opening day.

In a recent poll Of Midtown voters, two-thirds said they were concerned that 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 the Legislature, despite the clear dangers, has attempted to accelerate the timeline for bringing a casino to the city.

Few people like to talk about it, but casinos have always served as a means and destination for sex trafficking across the country. From Las Vegas to Atlantic City, hotel casinos have clear and deep ties to the sex exploitation economy.

Among the criminal cases in 2024: a 14-year-old who was trafficked at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City; a 16-year-old who was trafficked at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas; and a prostitution enterprise with ties to China run out of the MGM Grand Detroit, where authorities seized $40,000 in Canadian and U.S. dollars and 22 cellphones.

A casino in Times Square will be no exception.

Late last year, a survivor of prostitution testified on the stand in Manhattan that her “day shift” in Times Square began around 8:30 a.m. and that sex buyers and conventioneers knew exactly where and how to buy sex. She testified that her quota, set by pimps, was $1,000 and that her “shift” didn’t end until she reached it.

Despite the glossy Hollywood fare that condones prostitution, the realities of the sex industry reveal unspeakable degradation and violence against primarily women and girls of color at the hands of sex buyers and pimps. The harm they experience can be severe and cause lifelong trauma.

“Casinos and co-located lodging facilities — combined with the volatile nature of sex trafficking — provide convenience and cover for sex traffickers,” an analysis in the journal Security Management describes. “Normal casino hotel activity, with hundreds of guests arriving and departing 24/7 … conceals the trafficker’s activities, and the environment provides a potential customer base for the illicit trade.”

While these concerns apply to any casino, they have a particular resonance for Times Square. It is already one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world, drawing 50 million visitors a year. It is known for its nighttime activity, with nearly 100,000 pedestrians on the street between dusk and 1 a.m.

A casino could turn Times Square into a veritable red-light district, undoing a generation of efforts to make the neighborhood safer and more welcoming.

That’s in no small part due to Times Square’s proximity to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Penn Station. Both hubs have historically been key entry points for troubled youth and young adults on the run, where they are easy prey for exploiters. So prevalent that the Port Authority has its own human trafficking unit.

A recent criminal case illustrates the underground market. A Greyhound worker spotted vulnerable youth and sent them to waiting “friends” with the promise of food and shelter — plunging them into a world of abuse and exploitation.

The local youth shelters, programs and group homes I spoke with in Midtown are already dealing with human traffickers lurking across the street, trying to lure young people seeking help into prostitution.

The Administration for Children’s Services estimated that in 2019 alone, more than 2,000 young people in New York City were sexually exploited or at risk of exploitation.

We must also deal with the painful fact that tens of thousands of asylum seekers who are currently struggling are also at risk of commercial sexual exploitation.

The corporate interests that want to turn Times Square into a gambling destination expect us to ignore the overwhelming evidence that casinos lead to more crime, prostitution and sex trafficking.

We cannot sit idly by and watch as the important fight against the exploitation of women, girls and the most vulnerable among us unfolds.

Ossorio is the executive director of the National Organization of Women (NOW) NYC, which is a member of the No Times Square Casino Coalition.