A new beginning for New Beginning$

Our local brothel has closed. The other day, I noticed a For Lease sign on the roof of the building, indicating the neighborhood prevailed in its efforts to run it out of business. I'm a little sad to see it go because it added some character to a stretch of Broadway dominated by car lots.

New Beginning$ advertised hot tubs and massages for "Men Women Couples" and "Private Tubs For One Or Two." That might seem innocent enough, if it weren't for the opaque glass windows and a metal security door leading to a dimly lit staircase. That and it was the only "spa" in our neighborhood with a bouncer posted out front. (And yes, the dollar sign is part of the name.) Even though it's been cited repeatedly over the years for drugs and prostitution, it wasn't until recently that its massage license was revoked. Here's a bit from an email sent to our neighborhood group about the public hearing:

Not only were the massage parlor's employees providing sex for money, but there was testimony that streeet prostitutes bring their customers to the hot tubs. The owner had no ideas of how to prevent this; asked whether she required a sign-in sheet, she replied Yes, "but they never give their right names anyway." (At least the previous business owner, who still owns the building, said in 1991 that she only allowed women to come in with "one boyfriend a day"...but no, she could not help it if a woman has 7 boyfriends in a week.)

I love the bit about "7 boyfriends in a week." I'm sure it was all perfectly innocent. Anyway, now it's gone, ending all prostitution in North Oakland for good. Or at least moving it back to the seedy motels along Broadway and Macarthur where it belongs. Not that I liked having a brothel in our neighborhood, mind you, but it did let me feel a little closer to my Nevada roots. And let's be honest, it's going to happen somewhere. It might as well be a place that couldn't be mistaken for anything else.