Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Dennis Hof sure is a generous man. The owner of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Nevada plans to offer hundreds of elected politicians across the country a little pick-me-up with a "government assistance program," which involves him mailing out what he calls "good time party passes" to every senator, congressman and governor in America. More

Spitzer Family Update | It's been a year a half since Eliot Spitzer resigned as governor, but there's some fresh news today about his ties to the Emperor's Club V.I.P. escort service. Court records unsealed at yesterday's sentencing of Temeka Rachelle Lewis, one of the agency's bookers, reveal that Spitzer hooked up with Emperor's Club prostitutes for 18 months to 2 years, met the ladies in "cities outside New York and Washington," employed a variety of aliases, and often paid for their services via postal money orders. In totally unrelated—but interesting—Spitzer family news, WWD reports today that the former governor's daughter will be spending the summer interning at the Huffington Post. Let's hope more embarrassing Spitzer news doesn't surface between now and September. Things could really get awkward around HuffPo's offices! [NYT, WWD]

Hooker Economics | Some experts are predicting that end of the recession is now in sight and economic growth will rebound in the second half of 2009. Not Bloomberg columnist Matthew Lynn! He's looking at the very different data set: "The one lesson we can draw from the global credit crisis is that all the traditional ways of measuring the state of the economy are about as useful as a bottle of suntan lotion in a snowstorm. So here are two benchmarks we should all be monitoring more closely: extramarital affairs and the price of Latvian hookers. Both are telling us that there is still plenty of trouble ahead." Latvian hookers? We won't even begin to guess what sort of first-hand research was involved on Lynn's part, but we would recommend a thorough check of his expense report. [Bloomberg via Dealbreaker]

Marc Dreier's Dirty Rep Gets Dirtier | Lawyer Marc Dreier is thoroughly disgraced, having been charged with bilking investors out of $400 million as part of a fake bond scheme. But things just got a little bit worse for the former mega-lawyer currently under house arrest: It appears he was a client of the prostitution ring operated by Jodi "Babydol" Gibson, the madam who served time in prison and later published a tell-all that identified Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck as past clients. Of course this also means Dreier has someone he can consult on what life is like on the inside, which may not be such a bad thing. [Dealbook]

Hooker Booker Sentenced | Tanya Hollander, the "hooker booker" who set up appointments for clients of Eliot Spitzer's favorite escort agency, Emperors Club VIP, was sentenced to a year of probation today. [NYDN]

Craigslist Targets Hookers | Craigslist has agreed to crack down on the sex workers who use the site's "erotic services" section. That this news came about an hour after it was announced that Eliot Spitzer would not be prosecuted for having sex with prostitutes? A delightful coincidence! [NYT]

Despite the frequency with which willowy, young models end up shacking up with fat, old billionaires, Elite Model Management would like to make it very clear that it is not an escort agency. You cannot just pay some enormous fee, pick a stick-thin girl from a lineup, and then take her into a room for some "companionship." This explains why the modeling agency was none too pleased when it found out that a Manhattan escort agency was using the Elite name (and the domain elitemodels.cc) to market $7,500 prostitutes.More

If you happen to spot a Metrocard on the ground and there's a picture of a half-naked woman on it, it is not because the MTA is now using sex to sell the New York Subway system. It's an escort service that is now littering trains with fake Metrocards. Just so you know! [NewYorkShitty]

Are you hooked on drugs, alcohol, or gambling? Well, we hate to be the ones to break it to you, but you're incredibly unfashionable. The addiction du jour is sex addiction, and ever on the cutting edge, New Yorkers are becoming slaves to their libidos in increasing numbers, reports the Daily News with an entirely straight face. How do they know this? A couple of shrinks claim that their practices have been flooded with Wall Streeters who are using "adult services" to cope with stress. More

More Fuss Over 'Massage' Ads | The National Organization of Women, which successfully convinced New York magazine and the New York Press to ban ads for escort agencies last year, has a new target: amNewYork. The group is protesting the free paper's "Feeling and Looking Good" section, which is devoted exclusively to ads offering "massages" by Asian women. The paper says the ads are for legit businesses. And how does amNewYork verify which of these services are on the up-and-up and which ones offer naughty extras? "We visit," says the paper's publisher, Terry Jimenez. Well, isn't that a nice job for some amNewYork staffer! [City Room]

Your Visit to Scores Will Put Eddie Hayes' Mind at Ease | Legendary defense attorney Eddie Hayes is very concerned about the economy. Well, at least as it relates to the city's population of strippers and hookers, a world with which he's intimately acquainted: "The strippers are getting killed—it's terrible," he told the Washington Post over the weekend. "It really started in the last month. What they really need are the guys who go in and spend $500." To those bankers who are still employed: You've got your charity work cut out for you. [WaPo via NYO]

What do you do if you operate an escort service or massage parlor in the city and you can't rely on advertising your business in the back pages of New York magazine or the New York Press? (Both titles dropped sex ads in 2007 under pressure from the National Organization for Women.) You take to YouTube, apparently. There are a handful of local escort companies now using the site to serve up R-rated videos that hint at the decidedly more X-rated services they offer. The videos themselves don't feature any nudity—just a bunch of sad women dancing in bikinis in front of the camera—although if you head to the sites advertised on the bottom of the screen, you'll see that a lot more than a strip tease is available. (One site promises that your escapade will be "100% ANONAMOUS," just in case the Spitzer saga has you worried.) After the jump, a handful of amusing New York City hooker videos for your afternoon enjoyment.More

Is the financial crisis good or bad for the city's strippers and hookers? Depends on who you ask, it seems. According to the Post, "jiggle joints all over the city are seeing a drop in business, with fewer customers, less bar traffic and a drop in lap dances." An item in this week's issue of New York suggests the contrary, however, claiming that "the strip clubs that cater to corporate types were still packed" as of last week. Guess if you're really interested in a conclusive answer to this terribly imporant economic issue, you'll have to hit a strip club tonight and find out for yourself. What about the city's hookers, you ask?More

Another guilty plea from the people behind Eliot Spitzer's favorite high-class prostitution ring: Mark Brener, 62, the ringleader of Emperors Club VIP, pleaded guilty to conspiracy as part of a deal he struck with prosecutors. The Israeli native's plea comes a week after his girlfriend, Cecil Suwal, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy, and a month after booking agent Temeka Lewis pleaded guilty to similar charges. The aging Brener can now look forward to 24 to 30 months in prison, lending further credence to that old chestnut, "It's hard out here for a pimp."