X-rated materials

The city argued that even though stores and cabarets abided by the technical letter of the 60-40 amendment — crowding the X-rated materials with “I Love New York” T-shirts, ceramic taxis and Statue of Liberty foam crowns — they remained erotic establishments, attracting the same thrill-seeking consumers and causing the detrimental effects on their neighborhoods that the original law sought to eradicate.

In a new study from the Journal of Sexual Medicine, four Dutch researchers argue that previous studies on the subject have been too narrowly focused when it comes to drawing a connection between X-rated materials and negative outcomes.

The library, in the former mansion of J. Pierpont Morgan, has shelves that conceal staircases, and, in the study, a noticeably shallow bookcase contains a hidden compartment where Morgan probably stowed “X-rated materials,” said William Voelkle, a longtime curator.

Identified in a 1986 presidential report as the world's leading purveyor of X-rated materials, Sturman, 67, has been the target of three federal obscenity prosecutions.