Unlike the Deuce’s Peepland, W. 33rd St.’s defunct Peep World sex emporium will never be the (roundabout) subject of a song by an very unpopular rock band, but plans to reconfigure the space as a Hooter’s have raised the ire of Jeremiah of Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York. “This swap, with all of its cruel irony,” muses the author, “encapsulates the city’s cultural colon cleanse.”
Peep World was a nasty place for adults. It was raw and dirty and funky, like the city used to be. It wasn’t an airbrushed sexcapade for tired, middle-aged frat boys to get their kicks during “family time” after a game of golf.
Peep World was New York. It wasn’t Tampa or Dallas or Knoxville. It wasn’t a bland international chain.
And I’ll tell you something else–at Peep World, you could find all kinds of sex: straight, gay, transgender, plus every brand of kink. It was an all-inclusive smut experience. Hooters, on the other hand, sells one flavor of sex: vanilla. And does New York City really need more vanilla?