By The TimesLedger
We hope that the people who claim that prostitution is a “victimless crime” are paying attention. On June 20, police charged a man from Jamaica with promoting prostitution and endangering the welfare of a 16-year-old runaway. In plain language, they said the man is suspected of being a sleazy pimp who made his money by getting a young, frightened girl to sell her body to Johns cruising the streets near Queens Plaza.
The girl's parents were tipped off by friends who said they saw their daughter waving to drivers in the early morning hours. We can only imagine how devastating it must have been for the parents to see their little girl walking the streets. Hopefully, the rescue occurred before the child suffered any serious physical or emotional harm.
A week earlier the police arrested another pimp suspect. This time the girl walking the streets near Queens Plaza was only 12. It’s time to expose the pimp business for what it is. Hip-hop music and other parts of the pop culture have glamorized pimps. Singers go out of their way to look and act like pimps. One of the most popular wrestlers in the WWF used to pretend to be a pimp and even paraded his “ho train” in the ring before each fight. That's really funny if one doesn't know the truth about pimps and the women who make them wealthy.
There is nothing glamorous about walking the streets hoping to get picked up by some slobbering fool in exchange for a handful of dollars, most of which gets handed over to a greedy pig with gold chains and a fancy car.
We urge the police and the prosecutors to make life miserable for the pimps of Queens. These are modern-day slave traders. They willingly destroy the health and lives of young women for their own greed. The Johns aren’t much better. There should be significant risk attached to this illegal business. The Johns should lose their cars. The pimps should lose their freedom for as long as possible.
And as for the record producers and others who think “pimping” is cool, they should be held up for public ridicule. Victimless? Just ask the parents of the two girls rescued near Queens Plaza.
Editorial: Rent Regulation: It's not working
In the wake of the latest increases granted by the city's Rent Guidelines Board, it appears that there is one thing that the landlords and the tenant activists can agree on: the current system of rent regulation is not working.
The Board granted raises of 4 percent for one-year leases and 6 percent for two-year leases. And nobody was happy. The tenants call the rent increases “an outrage.” The landlords say the increase won't even cover their increased fuel costs. The tenants argue that people living on fixed incomes can't afford the rents they are paying now. They say the landlords are making huge profits. The landlords say that many property owners are barely breaking even. If landlords are making so much money, they say, why are there so few new apartments being built in the city.
Few would argue that there is shortage of affordable rental housing in New York City. People pay one month's rent or more just to find an apartment – if they are lucky. We'd like to say that we have the answer. We don't. But one thing is certain; the current system isn't working and needs desperately to be overhauled.
