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Guidance Counselor Busted In Prostitution Ring Had Cocaine Addiction & PhD


By

Christopher Robbins

Published Nov 21, 2012

Modified Nov 21, 2012


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David Mendelowitz's mug shot

 

LoHud / White Plains PD


By

Christopher Robbins

Published Nov 21, 2012

Modified Nov 21, 2012


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The only man named as a john in yesterday's sweeping prostitution indictment is 58-year-old David Mendelowitz, a former dean and guidance counselor at Scarsdale High School in White Plains who is accused to purchasing crack cocaine and Viagra to accompany his prostitutes.

"Two more hours plus $100 for a package of rock," Mendelowitz allegedly told one of the prostitution company's bookers while he was making an appointment with a prostitute named Yoyo. On another occasion, he asked for "the blue thing and everything." (The "blue thing" is slang for Viagra.) Mendelowitz had been working at Scarsdale High School since 1997 before his abrupt retirement this past June, and according to LoHud, was involved with the high school's Drug and Alcohol Task Force.

At his arraignment yesterday, Mendelowitz gave a recorded statement in which he admitted to being addicted to cocaine for the past 15 to 20 years, and estimated that he spent as much as $30,000 a year on drugs and prostitutes. In 2010 Mendelowitz's salary was $157,223. According to LoHud, he has a master's degree from Boston College and a PhD from St. John's University. Scarsdale resident Sara Werder, whose son had Mendelowitz as a guidance counselor, called him "very experience and…very knowledgeable. I'm shocked."

Tagged

drugs

prostitution

scarsdale

scarsdale high school


Christopher Robbins

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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


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