Leadership, autobiography by Rudolph Giuliani: on Families & Children

Rudy Giuliani: Restrict sex shops to small buffer zone

I decided it was critical to reduce the number of sex shops. They were retarding the growth of other businesses, particularly in Times Square. We made maps of where they were sited and started looking for ways to limit them, confident we could use the report to justify zoning restrictions. My impulse was to use the report and close all or nearly all of them. Looking at maps and seeing how many sex shops would have to close, I was told the proposal went too far. If we tried to close every shop, a judge might shoot down the plan.

We made the case for creating a zone in which the shops could stay open. Since the zone reduced the area available to sex shops, rents in other areas could increase. Eventually, rents rose even within the zone, making it too expensive for the sex shops-the free market could achieve what zoning could not. In the years that followed, whenever the sex shops took us to court, judges would cite this buffer zone we created as proof the rules were not overly restrictive.

Source: Leadership, autobiography by Rudolph Giuliani, p.153 Oct 1, 2002

*The above quotations are from Leadership, autobiography by Rudolph Giuliani with Ken Kurson.* Click here for definitions & background information on Families & Children. Click here for more quotes by Rudy Giuliani on Families & Children.
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