The decline of Manhattan’s meatpacking district opened the waterfront area to a host of nefarious nocturnal activities in the 1960s. S & M bars catering to a gay clientele flourished throughout the 70s and transvestite hookers worked the NJ car trade from underneath the slaughterhouse’s tin roofs. AIDs savaged the denizens of The Anvil, The Manhole, and the Mineshaft in the 80s. By the early 90s only a few bars remained open such as Baktun and Coyote Ugly along with restaurants like Rio Mar and Florins. Best were the donuts from the all-night bakery on the corner of Hudson and 14th Street, where the trannies warm their near-naked bodies on winter nights.

There was always something going on, but the decades of wickedness ended with the trendoidization of the Meat Market. Abandoned butcher shops were transformed into top-name fashion stores and flashy restaurants serving young rich singles seeking drinks and a possible romantic hook-up.

“No one goes there anymore, it’s too crowded,” Yankee catcher Yogi Berra quipped about a famed hang-out and the same was true for the Meatpacking District. Zombie hordes packed the streets and the night was ever young, forcing out the tradition of street hookers.

My friend Jorge lives on Little Washington and the esteemed writer has reported than the drag queens are back taking over their old territories, probably thanks to police patrols concentrating on the night spots and they are certainly a welcome change from the bar hags chatting like chipmunks and their faceless beaus in designer clothing.

Jorge declared, “The tranny hookers are better dressed than the bar whores.”

“And more desirable.” Although I’m kidding myself for most of them are a horror show, but not all.