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Much ado about rubbing? by Scott Stiffler
EDGE ContributorTuesday Nov 24, 2009 Were the organizers of an erotic massage demonstration scheduled to occur on a Friday night earlier this month genuinely surprised such activity in a Chelsea storefront generated complaints from a passerby and pressure from the New York Police Department to stop it--or are their protests simply much ado about rubbing?
Only Manworks.com site director Daniel Lee knows for sure. Manworks.com, which bills itself as "the leading erotic male masseur listings company in NYC," shares the same corporate parent as Rentboy.com. And it certainly knows a little something about how hard bodies and bare skin can generate attention.
A father complained to officers at the 10th Precinct his child was exposed to activity occurring in the window of the Blue Chelsea on Eighth Avenue between 21st and 22nd Streets. Soon after, a visit from the police led to the voluntary cessation of the massage demonstration--even though officers did not issue any tickets or summons. Those who responded also did not file a report.
ProjectPublicity, which represents Manworks.com, told EDGE in a Nov. 10 e-mail the police shut down the "Dutch window" an hour and a half into the demonstration. Lee confirmed to EDGE the decision to shut it down was a consensual one to which he and ultimately the storeowner agreed.
Manworks.com further asserted an NYPD car drove by the store without stopping. Twenty minutes later, however, an officer returned to claim "a permit was needed due to a gathering crowd obstructing the sidewalk. ProjectPublicity said the officer "could not cite the exact law the window was violating."
Edge asked Detective Timothy Duffy, the LGBT liaison to NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, to clarify what type of permit to which the officer referred (and whether or not the crowd of onlookers constituted obstruction.) Duffy said without a formal report filed, it was impossible to reconstruct the actions and intent--or identity--of the officers; and only a party involved in the matter could request and obtain such information. Duffy did say, however, a permit could have been required for any number of observable reasons that include public health, building or consumer affairs violations.
As for ProjectPublicity’s assertion the NYPD "demanded the demonstration be shut down immediately," Duffy said his superiors told him an officer "asked them to close the demonstration, and they conceded."
But did Lee and the store owner, whose establishment has been the sight of prostitution arrests, feel threatened or otherwise compelled to do as requested?
Even though he asked the officer "if Macy’s needed a permit for their Christmas windows when tourists jammed up 34th Street," Lee told EDGE both he and the store owner felt pressure to comply with the request to immediately discontinue to display.
"He [the officer] asked us, do you have a permit to do this kind of window," Lee continued. "He said you need to stop this now. The decision to stop was the store manager’s, because it’s his business. I told the masseur to stop for now. The cop walked out of the store and tried to disperse the crowd of maybe seven or eight standing around looking. There was not any obstruction of the sidewalk. I asked the officer, what law are we breaking. He said, you just need to stop."
Duffy further explained possible consequences Lee and the Blue Stop’s owners could have faced if they did not agree to end the display.
"If a police officer witnesses a violation--a low-level offense such as disorderly conduct--he can give you a summons if you were blocking pedestrian traffic or causing people to walk in the street," Duffy said. "If you refuse to stop doing that, that’s something I could bring you back to the station house for, and process an arrest."
Matt Faiella, a staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, further responded to the controversy.
"As a general matter, the police department doesn’t have the authority to shut down a public display just because it’s controversial," he told EDGE in a recent interview.
Faiella stressed this does not mean, however, the NYPD cannot arrest somebody who is confrontational or uncooperative "even if they shouldn’t."
"They very well might, but they shouldn’t use their authority to intimidate," he said.
Faiella also discussed the age old question of what constitutes community standards.
"The case law out there varies," he said as he discussed how something can be labeled as obscene. "From what I’ve read, it seems a little farfetched to label this obscene."
Lee maintains the massage demonstration was neither sexual nor lewd.
"We were careful to think of what they would be allowed to wear, because underwear might be construed as just being naked," he said. "We decided to have them wear swim trunks. There was no frottage or molesting each other. It was a sensual massage, using modality - a technique similar to Lomi, where the masseur uses his body to apply the pressure on their massages. No one had a hard on; we knew the limitations. In our minds, it was tame and within the law."
Lee further responded to the actual complaint that sparked the NYPD response.
"If a parent walks by with a child and we’re not doing anything illegal, it’s up to the parent to explain to their child what they’ve seen," he said.
Scott Stiffler is a New York City based writer and comedian who has performed stand-up, improv, and sketch comedy. His show, "Sammy’s at The Palace. . .at Don’t Tell Mama"---a spoof of Liza Minnelli’s 2008 NYC performance at The Palace Theatre, recently had a NYC run. He must eat twice his weight in fish every day, or he becomes radioactive.
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