In Magazine Publishing, Refusing To Accept Escort Ads Is The Ultimate Indicator Of Financial Robustness

You mean “escort” is a euphemism for that? Who in the classifieds department knew? Meanwhile, New York Magazine just wants its competitors to understand that it doesn’t even need those kinds of ads anymore:

Lonely hearts around town won’t be able to find rent-a-dates in the back pages of New York magazine anymore.

The popular weekly announced yesterday it will stop accepting sex ads in the wake of protest threats by the local chapter of the National Organization for Women.

The feminist group called the magazine the “marketing arm of the organized-crime world of prostitution and human trafficking” because of ads touting “Asians Gone Wild,” “Asian Bliss” or “Hot Latinas.”

. . .

New York magazine became the 15th publication this year, including Time Out New York and the New York Press, that agreed to end the “escort” and “model” ads that are often codes for prostitution.

“New York has been trying to eliminate this section for years. The business is prospering at this magazine and it was high time to get out of a business we were never comfortable being in,” said magazine spokeswoman Serena Torrey.

NOW-NYC threatened protests outside of New York magazine’s downtown offices, but Torrey declined to say if the protest threat prompted the move. All ads for adult services, spas, massages and the like will be phased out by the end of the year. The magazine earned $10,000 a week on the adult ads, according to NOW-NYC estimates.

Calls for comment to “Asians Gone Wild” and “Asian Bliss” were not immediately returned.