The promo was shut down, but not before Justina and Maria Santiago — mom and daughter — scored the sex toys.
CAN’T GET NO SATISFACTION: New Yorkers line up for free vibrators on Pearl Street yesterday. The promo was shut down, but not before Justina and Maria Santiago — mom and daughter — scored the sex toys. (
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They must have rubbed Mayor Bloomberg the wrong way.
City officials pulled the plug on a vibrator giveaway by the Trojan condom company yesterday, disappointing potentially thousands of pleasure-seeking women who hoped to get their hands on some no-cost sex toys.
“I’m 57 years old. I should be able to get a vibrator!” declared Linda Postell, who was among hundreds of women (and men!) waiting in the heat on Pearl Street only to be left unsatisfied. “I have a problem with the smoking ban, and the soda ban — and now this!”
Trojan sent tingles of excitement across the city when it announced the giveaway of some 10,000 vibrating sex toys from hot-dog-style pushcarts.
Trojan began by handing out about 400 free vibrators without incident on Sixth Avenue in Rockefeller Center between 11 a.m. and noon.
The giveaways were scheduled to start at 4 p.m. in the Flatiron District and near the South Street Seaport.
As carts arrived at each location, nearly 300 women — and quite a number of guys — queued up.
PHOTOS: PLEASURE SEEKERS TOLD TO BUZZ OFF
But instead of climaxing in a successful giveaway, the promotion was prematurely interrupted by City Hall, which sent a dark-suited representative to put the squeeze on Trojan’s “Pleasure Carts.”
The spoilsport, who declined to identify himself, told Trojan’s reps at the Flatiron location that they had to shut down because of the size of the crowd that had gathered.
The event barely got started. The downtown event shut down about 40 minutes later, and Trojan managed to dole out just a couple of hundred battery-operated tinglers.
The decision to nix the giveaway clearly caused the mayor’s voter satisfaction ratings to plummet among the empty-handed thrill seekers.
“There’s a lot more important things the city should be worried about than a free-vibrator giveaway,” complained Park Slope bar owner Melody Henry, 42. “Bloomberg doesn’t want anyone to have fun. You can’t have a giant soda. You can’t have a vibrator.”
The Mayor’s Office insisted the vibrator switch-off was a permit issue, and not due to any prudishness.
“This activity promoting Trojan products, which impeded pedestrian and street traffic, did not have a permit,” City Hall said in a written statement. “The production company affiliated with the event is currently in discussions with the Mayor’s Office to hold a promotional event with proper permits at a later date.”
Additional reporting by David Seifman