Recall the tale of Sunset Park's Sweet Cherry, the strip club that inspired the New York Times to bust out a porn map of threatened strip clubs 'round the boroughs? It's just been closed, permanently, in a move that some think is the first step to remaking the waterfront section of the Brooklyn neighborhood:
Part roadhouse, part funhouse and part suspected house of ill repute, the Sweet Cherry was something of an anachronism in New York, a rough and unapologetic house of debauchery in a low-crime, noise-controlled, smoke-free city... but the clubs in Sunset Park began to draw complaints when a waterfront revival brought new jobs and immigrant families to the area. Felix W. Ortiz, a state assemblyman who has campaigned to close the club, said the deal was a victory for Sunset Park. "This is just the beginning of taking back First, Second and Third Avenues," Mr. Ortiz said, "for people who want to see the waterfront and breathe the fresh air."
All well and good, though we're inclined to agree with the stripper who notes, "They're closing and they're always reopening. They'll open again."
· Strip Parlor Closes as Part of Plea Deal [NYTimes]
· NYC Porn Map, May 2006 Edition [Curbed]