New York Escorts

On Wednesday, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. announced that his office would no longer be prosecuting prostitution and unlicensed massage arrests, and that it would be dropping 914 cases dating all the way back to the 1970s. The office also moved to dismiss more than 5,000 loitering for the purpose of prostitution cases, which stem from the highly controversial “walking while trans” statute, which was repealed last February.

Yet the statement fell short in one crucial regard: though it stated it would no longer be prosecuting those arrested on prostitution charges, the text of the bill specifies that it “does not preclude us from bringing other charges that may stem from a prostitution-related arrest,” and the New York Times notes the office “will continue to prosecute other crimes related to prostitution, including patronizing sex workers and sex trafficking.” In other words, those who buy sex, or are accused of facilitating sex trafficking, will not be exempt from this policy change, explains Maya Morena, a sex worker rights activist based in New York. “They will still be criminalizing our customers and third party, which often means anyone we pay, including our landlords, friends, drivers, and customers, are criminalized,” she says. 

Among Aboushi’s opponents, Assemblymember Dan Quart has released a set of 18 offenses he would not prosecute, including resisting arrest and drug possession for personal use. (Aboushi includes these and also drug sales on her list.) Public defender Eliza Orlins says she would decline to charge offenses like drug possession and petty theft that perpetuate cycles of poverty and inequality, and last week launched a new plan to decriminalize sex work. Lucy Lang, a former prosecutor, also says she would not prosecute sex work. Alvin Bragg, another former prosecutor, lists on his website offenses that he would “[make] it the default” to not prosecute. Also running are former prosecutors Liz Crotty, Diana Florence, and Tali Farhadian Weinstein.

Aboushi spoke to the Political Report about what it means to reduce criminalization. She explained why she extends her declination promise to drug sales, why she is proposing to fully decriminalize sex work, and makes the case that her declination policies would also address police misconduct.

Sex work is a consenting engagement between two adults. It is work, people are engaging in this for income, and that is done with consent. The Nordic model still leaves the door open to have those who engage in sex work to be criminalized. This is not to be conflated with human trafficking, rape, sexual assault. We have plenty of laws on the books that address those things. But particularly for sex work, what we’re seeing, and it was especially problematic in the NYPD’s VICE unit, is that this is a charge used in an abusive manner by police.