"I used to buy my porn on 42nd st west of Times Sq before they tore it all down and Disney, etc., moved in. While it was "unclean" and most of the block was deserted, it wasn't really "unsafe" until after midnight or 1. And, not all that unsafe."
True. Very True. And a good deal of the people you saw going in there were tourists, easily identifable by the "golly gee" looks on their faces. I imagine they fancied themselves as taking a walk on the wild side.
Now you can still find a good deal of stores just around the corner on 8th avenue, from 40th st and down.
So much for Rudolph "Il Duce" Giuliani's clean up.
Thank goodness. I couldn't imagine people in NY going out to the boondocks of Brooklyn to shop for smut.