AMSTERDAM — A public-housing corporation has sealed a deal to purchase eighteen buildings in the famous Red Light District of Amsterdam, which will lead to the closure of one-third of the area’s legendary brothels.While the legality of marijuana and prostitution have made the area a large and profitable tourist center for quite some time, city officials pressed for the sale based on their belief that the area has been a major city crime hub.
Mayor Job Cohen told the local media that the closures are not about getting rid of prostitution in the city but are about preventing money laundering and organized crime.
“What we do want is to get rid of the underlying criminality,” Cohen told a local television station.
Last November the city revoked the licenses of 33 brothels because they were suspected of criminal activities including money laundering and non-marijuana drug dealing. However, the brothel owners appealed successfully against the decision.
Prostitutes’ rights organizations have generally been indifferent to that crackdown, arguing that pimps are the main source of problems, not landlords.
