Second Avenue, from East 8th to 9th, and between East 12th and East 14th;
Third Avenue, from East 9th to East 28th, and from East 99th to East 137th, and the side streets to Lexington Avenue;
Irving Place, from East 14th to East 15th;
Houston Street, on the lower East Side around Allen and Forsythe Streets.
Of all these thoroughfares, Broadway is most freely utilized for soliciting. During the nights of March 7, 11, 14, 19, 20, and 21, 1912, at the hours of 8.30 P. M., 9 P. M., 10 P. M., 11 P. M., 11 to 12 P. M., 11.30 P. M., 12 A. M., 12.15 A. M., 12.30 A. M., 12.45 A. M., and 1.55 A. M., eighty-four street walkers were seen accosting men at different places on Broadway from West 34th to West 65th Streets. This number does not take into account prostitutes who were merely promenading or those who were lurking in the shadows of the side streets. Reports of a similar character could be given for the months of April, May, June, July, August, September, and October, 1912, showing that solicitation on Broadway was continuous.
Sixth Avenue is another favorite resort for street walkers. On September 17, 18, 23, 25, 26, and 28, 1912, at such hours as 4 P. M., 4.30 P. M., 6.30 P. M., 7.15 P. M., and 8 to 9 P. M., fifty-five prostitutes were seen soliciting men between West 24th and West 29th Streets. In most instances the destination of these couples was hotels on two corners of West 28th Street. The same general conditions as described regarding solicitation on Broadway and Sixth Avenue exist in other sections of the city.[87]
(4) PUBLIC DANCE HALLS
No places of amusement are so filled with moral dangers to boys and girls as certain public dance halls in New York City. A conviction to this effect, long held, has been strengthened as a result of a thorough and comprehensive investigation of 85 public dances given in 47 different dance halls in Manhattan from January 24 to June 24, 1912. Ninety-six reports were made of conditions in these dance halls by three investigators, two young men and a young woman, who worked independently. In some instances they reported on the same dance without knowing of the presence of one another, thus removing all doubt regarding the facts as presented. No special dances were selected for observation, the investigators having been sent to those which were publicly advertised from time to time.
Of 75 different dances reported between January 24 and June 24, only 5 are characterized as decent; 11 were more or less objectionable, 59 wholly so. At all but 3, intoxicating liquor was sold; at 61, minors were present; at all but 2, the investigator concluded that the attendance was largely disreputable.
A woman investigator reported 31 dances, at 22 of which she was solicited by 53 men; men investigators, reporting 80 dances, were solicited 47 times by 43 different women.