We didn’t. But that’s what the New York Post calls the twenty-block stretch of Manhattan between Chelsea and midtown (midtown, of course) that features no fewer than ten BDSM/fetish clubs. Finally, that neighborhood has a name! Some people have called it the Tenderloin, some people have called it Chelsea/Clinton (man, the double entendres here are spanking us!), but “Dungeon Alley” really has a special ring to it. According to Time Out New York, “hoi polloi” don’t yet know about this nickname (indeed, a Google search of the term comes up with only seven hits), but we think that should change. And it looks like it will! According to the Post, a gang of dominatrices working in the area want to form a union of sorts, to advocate for themselves and promote interest in their business. Apparently, the economic downturn is flogging Wall Street so hard, businessmen no longer want (or can’t afford) the ministrations of these ladies. And a recent flurry of dungeon busts has been a problem, too. “It’s never been worse. Business is down 70 percent,” Mistress Johanna, owner of Chelsea’s Le Salon DeSade, told the tabloid. And … wait for it … “We’ve had all these busts, and now the economy is out of control,” she added. “The uncertainty is torturing us.”
BINDING ARBITRATION [NYP]
