The NYPD announced that it conducted a four-day prostitution sting in 27 police precincts across the city, resulting in many arrests. One hundred eighty-six johns were arrested—the Post says, "Undercover cops pose as hookers and collar those johns looking for a prostitute," and the sting was called “Operation Losing Proposition." more ›

A deaf woman was allegedly abducted in Williamsburg early Monday morning, and two people have been arrested and charged with attempting to prostitute her. Steven Benoit, 25, and Jasmine Wilkins, 19, were arrested for allegedly kidnapping the 28-year-old woman, who hasn't been identified. “They told her to be a prostitute, and she wanted no part of it. They were punching her in the face and pulling her hair," the victim's grandmother, Grace Schenk, told the Post. more ›

Last week, Jason Itzler, the infamous and self-proclaimed "King of All Pimps," was in court to plead not guilty to charges of selling cocaine, promoting prostitution and laundering money, before his pants fell to his ankles and he shuffled out of court. Yesterday, he told the judge that his arrest was part of a huge conspiracy involving an Achy, Breaky singer and a billionaire mayor, "Billy Ray Cyrus is best friends with Mayor Bloomberg. Bloomberg has a tendency to cover things up." more ›

Jason Itzler has called himself the "King of all Pimps," a nod to running a pricey escort ring (he even employed Ashley Dupre, who would later go onto to "escort" Governor Spitzer). But he pleaded not guilty to selling cocaine, promoting prostitution and laundering money in court yesterday. And to top things off, the Daily News reports, "Court officials were inquiring about the availability of a court-appointed lawyer as Itzler was being escorted to a side room, his hands cuffed behind his back. His jeans - which he was wearing sans belt for security reasons - suddenly slipped down to his ankles - forcing him to duck-walk off stage." more ›

Time to make the coffee...and turn a trick? We've heard of fast food workers using their job as a front to sell drugs, but this is a twist. A six-week police investigation called "extra sugar" in New Jersey has allegedly turned up a prostitute working an interesting corner: the drive-through window at a Dunkin' Donuts on Route 46. Last week Police arrested 29-year-old Melissa Redmond for offering Dunkin' customers a secret menu that puts the one at In-N-Out to shame. more ›

If you're wondering why stretch Hummers' tinted windows seem extra black today, it's because a Sheepshead Bay prostitution ring that billed clients more than $10,000 a night has been busted. The Post reports that 17 people and 5 corporations have been indicted in the sting. The service also offered cocaine with their pricey ladies, because when you're paying 10 large a night, you better be able to act as quickly as you can. more ›

Despite his accuser's libel suit against the New York Post, the revelations that the woman is a prostitute, associates with criminals and has previously lied to the government have shattered her credibility and the rape charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Today, Manhattan District Attorney (and friend of Gothamist) Cy Vance, Jr. and his team will meet with Strauss-Kahn's defense attorneys to discuss the possibility of a plea bargain and the future of the case. more ›

A high-profile University of Mexico professor is the third person to be arrested in a widening investigation into a website that connected prostitutes with johns in New Mexico. Distinguished political science professor Chris Garcia, 71—whom investigators say used the online handle "Burque Pops"—was arrested in Albuquerque and charged with promoting prostitution, tampering with evidence and conspiracy. According to prosecutors, Garcia was an integral part of a group dubbed "The Hunt Club," a seven-member team led by Upper West Side Professor David Flory, who was the first to be arrested—but almost definitely not the last. more ›

The Upper West Side physics professor accused of running a prostitution website knew investigators were on to him months before his arrest, but as hard as he tried he couldn't make the incriminating content on the site go away, according to police. David Flory, a 68-year-old married grandfather who teaches at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, was arrested on Sunday in New Mexico, where he has a vacation home, and where investigators say he operated the site "Southwest Companions" for three years, connecting about 200 prostitutes and about 1,200 johns. He told police it was just a "hobby" but it seems he knew his harmless pastime would be his downfall. And now he has the Secret Service on his back! more ›

An Upper West Side physics professor wasn't too bright when he registered the domain for a prostitution website, prosecutors say. David Flory, 68, who teaches at Fairleigh Dickinson (heh) University in New Jersey, was charged with 40 counts of promoting prostitution this week in connection with the website "Southwest Companions," which connected men with prostitutes in New Mexico (where Flory has a vacation home). Prostitutes-turned-informants tipped off investigators that the site was owned by a David Flory of New York, and NorthJersey.com reports that Flory "used his university e-mail address to start the site, which helped police identify him." more ›

A physics professor at a New Jersey university was arrested Sunday in an Albuquerque Starbucks and charged with running a prostitution website involving about 200 women and more than 1,200 johns. David Flory, who resides in NYC and teaches at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, allegedly ran the website "Southwest Companions," which investigators say connected men with prostitutes. North Jersey.com reports Flory told cops he didn't make any money off the website, but merely ran it as a hobby, to provide "a safe place for guys to find female prostitutes." Albuquerque police Lt. William Roseman explained how the website operated: more ›

After being lured from her Bronx home by a sexual predator seven months ago, an 11-year-old has returned home, and told the Daily News about how her kidnappers pimped her out to men in their Lower East Side apartment. The girl managed to call her grandmother, who told her to run from the Delancey Street apartment while her captors slept. She was eventually found by cops, and is undergoing treatment at a Westchester clinic. She said of her captors, "I want them to go through pain 24 hours a day. I want someone to make them do stuff the way they made me do stuff...I want them to go through what I went through. I think about nothing but anger." more ›

"Chica Chica" cards, which are like baseball cards of prostitutes, have been handed out all around Queens for years, but an increase in their circulation lately has caused some politicians to call for action to be taken. "Is this going to eliminate prostitution? It's not. It's the first step toward improving the quality of life on Roosevelt Ave," said Queens Democratic Sen. Jose Peralta, who wants to make it illegal to sell them. more ›

Stamford police busted an alleged prostitution ring that was being run out of a massage parlor, arresting four Brooklyn women. And they caught them in the act: Lt. Tim Shaw says police armed with a search warrant found two women in rooms with men, one of them in the middle of performing a sexual act. “[We] located condoms throughout the building. They were hidden in false-bottom hairspray cans,” said Shaw. Which is obviously hardcore proof of prostitution! more ›

Crispus Attucks Park in Clinton Hill has earned the nickname "Prostitution Park" from locals, and they're not too happy about it. "Prostitution, drugs, crack vials all over the place at night, people defecating on the bushes," Henry Hernandez told WPIX. "My granddaughter loves to play here during the day. It's a shame." And some residents are blaming budget cuts to the Parks Department, saying it keeps them from locking the park gates at night. Is the city in such dire straights that it can't afford a padlock? more ›

When top-ranking members of the Gambino crime family were indicted for a host of crimes in April, one charge stood out in particular: sex trafficking with girls as young as 15, something one prosecutor called “a new low for the Gambino family.” But a Gambino defense attorney is now accusing the government of complicity allowing the sex trafficking to occur. more ›

In a move that apparently shocked nobody on the block, cops busted a massage parlor on East 78th Street on Monday for charging customers for sex. Cops raided the den and charged Wangshan Ye, 22, and Le Zhou, 40, for prostitution. Upstairs neighbor Derek Karney told the Daily News, "Everyone in the building knows what's going on in there. This place has adult ads on craigslist." The shop, which had only been open for about two months advertised "magic massage—beautiful girl," "high tone Asian acupressure," and "most excellent care." We wonder how many roses they charged? more ›

A Queens madam has been arrested for allegedly living the high life at the expense of naive Korean girls. Responding to ads in Korean newspapers for nail technician work, the women were forced into prostitution by Jin Hua Cui, and threatened to tell their families they were prostitutes or "have Chinese gangs kill them" if they didn't cooperate. The women were brought to two brothels disguised as nail salons in Long Island, one which advertised a "Stimulus Plan." more ›

Police from the 76th Precinct arrested seven "horndogs" last Saturday night on the "slimy corner" of Butler and Nevins streets in Boerum Hill for soliciting sex from undercover cops posed as prostitutes. As the Brooklyn Paper points out, each of the johns were caught in the same way every time, as if taking their cue from Talking Heads: they'd roll up to the corner in their car and throw out a price, ensuring their arrest for solicitation, a misdemeanor. BP lists the details of each bust, including one man who "lightly injured" an officer, as well as the (seemingly) stingy prices each offered (which ranged from $10 for oral sex to $28 for intercourse). Police have nabbed 20 men as part of "Operation Losing Proposition" on that corner alone. more ›

Lately, all the Gambino crime family news has revolved around prodigal son John Gotti Jr. and his many merry mistrials, leading some to believe the crime syndicate had mellowed out in recent years (since their last big bust). But yesterday, the U.S. Attorney and Federal Bureau of Investigation charged 14 top-ranking members of the Gambino family with a host of crimes over the last ten years, including extortion, assault, loan sharking, marijuana and cocaine trafficking, murder, and—in what prosecutors are calling a "new low" for the Gambinos—prostitution. more ›

Last month the NYCLU got a hold of 600 pages of the NYPD’s internal reports, and today the Times took an exhaustive look at the serious and petty crime committed by cops. According to documents—which span the period from 1993-2008—an average of 119 officers are arrested annually. Known as the “rat squad” since most of its cases rely on cops snitching on one another (its employees are called “cheese eaters"), many of the Internal Affairs Bureau’s cases involves “drugs, theft or crimes like fraud, bribery or sex offenses, on and off the job.” more ›

The "gorgeous tall buxom blonde" woman who was accused of trying to trade sex for World Series tickets was found not guilty of prostitution yesterday—but was found guilty of attempted prostitution. Susan Finkelstein, 44, was caught by cops last fall after posting a Craigslist ad trying to procure tickets to see her beloved Phillies lose to the Yankees in the baseball finale. Finkelstein denied offering to engage in a three-way with an undercover officer, but did admit to sending him nude pictures of herself. more ›

In a no-jail plea deal, attorney Louis "Big Daddy Lou" Posner pleaded guilty yesterday to promoting prostitution at his popular strip club, the Hot Lap Dance Club. Prosecutors busted Posner for offering much more than erotic dancing to its upscale clientele, including on-site cocaine sales, and private rooms with beds for $250 an hour (plus whatever customers gave "dancers" behind closed doors). According to Posner's detailed statement in court yesterday, it does indeed sound like a pretty raunchy place (RIP): more ›

A Bronx man has filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against the city claiming he was wrongfully arrested on made-up charges of soliciting sex from an undercover cop—and the NYPD kept him behind bars for so long he missed his father's funeral. "It's very upsetting," 51-year-old security guard Clifton Quarles Jr. said in a statement issued to the Daily News. "My father was my best friend and I missed his funeral. I will have to live with that for a lifetime." more ›

Neo soul singer D'Angelo has been called "R&B Jesus," but late Friday night he did something sinful. While "cruising" through the West Village in his Range Rover he came across an undercover policewoman and, mistaking her for a prostitute, allegedly asked her for oral sex, reports the Post. Further, the Voodoo artist—who hasn't put out an album or given interviews in a decade—was offering to pay $40, though police found $12,000 cash in his car. Sources say the 36-year-old has been arrested and charged with solicitation. more ›

A Chappaqua nurse was arrested for allegedly offering various sexual services that she advertised on Craigslist ("sensual massage" for "generous gentlemen"). Melinda Brennan, who would meet clients at home and hotels, was busted after taking $200 from an undercover cop. The Journal News reports the investigation started after the police received a tip "about weird things going on at the house." Brennan was renting the home, and the home's owner says she had no idea what was going on—in fact, Brennan defaulted on rent but the landlady allowed her to stay out of sympathy. And, to remind everyone of Chappaqua's most famous resident, the Daily News points out that Brennan lives just a mile from former president Bill Clinton. more ›

Finally! After grammatical errors and charges of lesbianism, Alexia Moore has been found not guilty of prostitution, according to the Post. Moore and fellow dancer Falynn Rodriguez (whose prostitution charges were thrown out on Sunday) were accused of offering more than just lap dances at Big Daddy Lou's Hot Lap Dance Club. more ›

A Manhattan judge decided he believes at least one of two strippers from Big Daddy Lou's Hot Lap Dance Club who say they’re “just selling fantasy.” He threw out prostitution charges against one woman allegedly caught selling sex to an undercover cop. A decision is expected Tuesday on the fate of a second showgirl—porn star Cassandra Malandri. On Friday she took the stand and gave all the dirty details more ›