Gawker
When you hear "peep show" you probably think of video cubicles that reek of Pine-Sol and bleach (one person per booth, please!). Now, with the closure of The Playpen, looks like Manhattan has but three actual live-girl peepshows still in operation. Come with Intern Sheila on a trip to Times Square.
The Playpen, which closed on August 1st, had it all—straight and gay video peeps, plus wall-to-wall porn, with categories ranging from "barely legal" to "shemale" to "animal." Plus! Live, nude girlie shows, albeit behind glass and costing $35 for five minutes (we hear). Actual vagina!
The Playpen's marquee also featured a neon skyline that included the Twin Towers, which they never bothered to remove after 9/11, presumably to show the terrorists that they might be able to destroy our buildings, but they could never crush our reluctance to spend money on cosmetic changes.
But after thirteen years, the Playpen era is over. What other venerable porn institutions has 693 Eighth Avenue housed? Well, there was the Adonis, a notable gay theater, which was closed in 1994 due to rampant sexual activity. Before that, it was the Cameo, which also featured the cinema of the three X's.
The reason for the closure is totally boring, yet chilling: The building, a theater that opened in 1916 and has much of its original stylings intact, was sold in 2003 and will finally be put to good use as either the luxury condo or hotel that developers always knew it could be. Or maybe a condo-hotel!
Currently, city preservationists are asking that the Tishman Realty and Construction stop the demolition of the building, which could happen any day now, citing its architectural significance. Playpen joins Paradise Alley, also on 8th Avenue, and the Noose fetish shop in Chelsea, as the latest porn store to shut up shop.
But we know what you're wondering: "Where will I get my live-girl and porn fix the next time I'm in Midtown? The Hawaiian Tropic Zone restaurant and Hooters just don't cut it." For the record, the remaining live-girl peeps can be found at 781 Eighth Avenue, 687 Eighth Avenue, and 42 W. 33rd Street. Pay a visit before they're gone too!
[Image thumbnail of a photo by Dave Gorman]
Comments
What? So now I have to go to hipster parties to see strung out underaged female naked flesh?
Three minus one equals one? That's some Spice Girls math.
It's official. The terrorists have won.
If you think its bad in midtown, you should see downtown. "FiDi" (what Corco-Devil minion came up with that name?) has only a few stores left for bankers to buy lube from.
@The Real JR: Now with more scabs.
What, is Show World gone too? I'd give anything to get hold of one of those "You Drop It, We Mop It" signs. A true collectible.
Stripping (so to speak) the character out of New York may be Guiliani's true legacy.
@Solomon Grundy: "Girl Power! If there were another Spice Girl, she'd be Crepe Spice."
I witnessed the bikini contest at Hawaiian Tropic Zone a few weeks ago. My favorite part - besides the tatas, obv - was that every model said she was from Russia, Ireland, or Norway, in a Chicago accent. Bewildering, brilliant. But no Playpen.
@depardoo: Bloomberg accelerated the Bostonization of Manhattan. Give credit where credit is due.
Are we talking Noose Fetish Shop? Or like, noose-fetish shop?
Sigh. Okay. Where do I pick up my musket and buckle shoes?
Seems to be a trend! There's also a fight to save Tribeca's Pussycat Lounge by getting the building landmarked. Shake it but don't break it, Amanda Burden!
I thought it had been landmarked years ago. Wait, a landmark just means that stain on your clothes that's only visible under black light, right?
But the bathhouses are still okay, right?
@LolCait: Materials for the Arts.
Can we get an interactive map of the girlie shows a/la Gridskipper?
Does "actual vagina" mean that there are no cartoon stars leaping out of it?
Did any midgets work there? If so, I'm totally bummed.
Come with Intern Sheila on a trip to Times Square.
Heh.
Playpen was the best way to spend any second act of a Broadway show. Sorry gentleman, no more dismiss Les Miz...
@LolCait:
The Disney Store. Great selection. Add the tricorn hat to get their 3-for-1 special!
$35? To see a vagina. Isn't it cheaper to just hang around Britney for five minutes?
Is Blakeley on vacation or something?
Wait, so that means this huge sack full of octagonal tokens is no good anymore????!!!
Where will I empty my sack now?
I wonder how many total pounds (tons?) of spunk have been dripped, dropped, and crusted on every available surface of that building? Better put the demo crew is full haz-mat suits.
@atipofthehat: Oh, I see what you did there. Well played, old bean.
Gosh, I miss going to those booths back in the day for getting stoned and rubbing one out during lunch.
@Rock_Hunter: Settle down, Binky.
I heard a nasty rumor that before the building goes down, the NYPD's gonna swab the floor and create a DNA database.
@fortqueenmean: Hahahaa... yeah I saw the 'FiDi' abbreviation for the first time like a week ago and just though 'ugh... there goes the neighborhood'. But not really, because the financial district is probably one of the few places that some condos and a whole foods would actually improve. Its just such a wierd area.
@nycheartbreaker:
Uh oh.
I guess this means Britney really WON'T have a career after all?? Oh, the humanity!
So sad. The job of Jizz Chiseler is now obsolete.
@Atelier:
But how do you pronounce it? Feedee? Fighdigh? Fighdee?
@depardoo: Show World packed up their chicks-with-dicks years ago.
went there one drunken night.
the girl that danced for me had a master's degree.
@collegecallgirl: Yeah, I think its 'Fighdigh'. Although I've never actually heard anyone pronounce it, just saw it on one of the ten thousand real estate announcements I get in the mail every week.
@ellagood:
Oh my god -- that was you? Thanks for the tip!
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