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BREAKING: Strippers Excellent At Bleeding Cash From Sad, Rich Men
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Dec 11, 2011
Modified Dec 11, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Dec 11, 2011
Modified Dec 11, 2011
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Today's New York Post reveals a shocking truth: strippers don't strip for the accolades or the prestige, but for money! Several dancers at Rick's Cabaret in Midtown say they pull in as much as $10,000 in a single shift. Should protesters be Occupying the pole?
Some dancers who work many busy night shifts can make $600-$800K a year in credit card tips alone. One dancer, Tali, a 30-year-old from Colombia describes how she scored $10K from one lonely "entertainment executive" without even removing her clothes.
“He said, ‘You’re the first person who actually told me her name,’ ” she said. “As soon as I sat down, he gave me $1,000. I said, ‘Does this mean you want me to stay?’ Sometimes people give you money to leave. He told me to stay because he didn’t want all the girls approaching him. We just talked and he ordered a bottle of champagne. Every hour, he gave me another $1,000.” The entertainment executive opened up to Tali about problems with his marriage. “He wanted to know what I thought from a woman’s point of view,” she recalled. After spending the night propped on the bar stool chatting over flutes of champagne, he left her with a big tip and never saw her again.“None of the other girls connected with him the way I did,” said the stripper. “It was the best night.”
Psychiatrists: maybe it's time to start wearing tassels? Another dancer pinpoints the technique:
They come in to talk about their days at work,” she said. “They want to get to know someone, have a drink, relax. I used to think there was a type of body that was popular, but it’s not. If you make it easy for them to relax, you can make the most money in the world no matter what your body is like.” Her trick is to fake intimacy: “Just think of someone you really like and are passionate about. Then you get into it and it gets easier.”
Buried at the end of the article, another dancer acknowledges that the whole "exploiting vulnerable, if wealthy human beings takes a toll on your soul" hazard to the job. "There’s nothing easy to it. It’s tough for me to go on a date. When guys approach me, I have a wall up. It makes me think of work."
The real winners? The shareholders. Ricks is a publicly owned company, where the Manhattan location alone can pull in $300,000 on a good week, and is worth $70 million. In fact, sales are up 13% from last year. Misery: it's recession-proof!
Tagged
1%
99%
adult entertainment
economy
lapdances
midtown
rich people
soul-sucking
strippers
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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