from www.nypress.com – Just like John Mayer’s ghetto pass following that Rolling Stone interview, adult video and bookstores got their porn passes yanked yesterday after Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Louis York ruled such stores have to stop pushing porn. And while articles yesterday like this one from The Daily News featured headlines foretelling the demise of adult stores in general that had us scared for the future of our favorite sex shops, we’ve finally stopped breathing into a brown bag long enough to learn that the law’s long arm isn’t after our Purple Passion or Pink Pussy Cat Boutique. Tuesday’s court ruling effects only those shops that sell porn under the mien of mainstream video and book sellers.

We aren’t entirely upset that such stores must become legit or quit, as we prefer purchasing porn online from the anonymity of our own home, but wanted to hear firsthand from those directly impaired by this porn injunction, so we went to the source- the adult stores in question- to get reactions to the ruling and more importantly find out: Who still purchases porn in person?

Not enough people for business to be booming according to Victor Vargas, a clerk at DVD’s Palace, one such video shop in Murray Hill. Like its upstairs neighbor Kinematics, DVD’s Palace is in business because of a 60/40 zoning rule in the law that regulates such shops, which allowed adult video and bookstores whose merchandise was 60 percent mainstream material and 40 percent adult content to remain open until yesterday’s ruling removed the loophole from the law.

Calling the Palace a regular video store would be akin to calling a sex shop a candy store just because it has edible underwear in the window. And while its name and signs advertising blow out sales were inconspicuous enough to have you believe it’s another Blockbuster-esque establishment, the latex costume in the corner window and dildo display behind the counter made clear their main market even though the first few displays shelves were stacked with non-adult film DVDs.

“The business thrives on this,” Vargas explained while casting an eye around the store almost entirely engulfed by XXX offerings. “They don’t make any money on regular movies anymore at all.”

They don’t make money off adult DVDs anymore either thanks to the Internet; a point Vargas openly acknowledged before adding that most of Dvd’s Palace’s sales come from toys and outfits as opposed to videos or books.

“Adult stores are struggling no matter what because of the Internet,” he said. “Times are changing. Five or 10 years ago, there were probably three or four times more porn stores out there.”

But numbers have dwindled off exponentially Vargas said, which makes him believe this latest ruling is more of a moral move to marginalize the seedier elements of the city in order to attract more tourists. The Supreme Court’s ruling appears to be nothing more than a knock out punch to a business model already hurting, which explains why Vargas reacted to news of the stricter regulations with the emotional range of a newly botoxed forehead.

“Business has gone down 90 percent,” Vargas ineffectually emoted. “We know we’re a thing of the past. We’re just riding the wave until it ends. That’s just how it goes.”