Lauren Molier
GET YOURS: An oh-so-close-to-ecstatic Lauren Molier joined a long line yesterday for a free vibrator, a day after the city shut down the promotion (above). (Kristy Leibowitz)
GET YOURS: An oh-so-close-to-ecstatic Lauren Molier joined a long line yesterday for a free vibrator, a day after the city shut down the promotion (above, left). (
)
Mayor Bloomberg has finally decided to let freedom buzz.
After disappointing throngs of New York women by putting the squeeze on a vibrator giveaway Wednesday, City Hall allowed the Trojan company to hand out free sex toys yesterday in — where else? — the Meatpacking District.
An electric atmosphere pulsed up and down 14th Street near 10th Avenue as thousands of women, and quite a few men, gathered to collect their plastic pleasure wands from a pushcart.
“The city made a mea culpa, and the turnaround is good,” gushed Lauren Molier, a 27-year-old teacher from Staten Island who queued up for the battery-powered rocket ride. “I don’t think the city shutting it down yesterday was good for New York.”
Rose Moon, 29, of Sunnyside, Queens, was among the crowd of pleasure seekers — and she was hoping to get her hand on one that was especially durable.
“You go through the small, cheap ones pretty quickly,” Moon said as she waited in the line. “I’m hoping that this will be better than the ones I’m used to and [I can] keep it for life!”
Trojan had originally planned to hand out up to 10,000 vibrators all around the city in a two-day extravaganza starting Wednesday.
The giveaway attracted hundreds to spots downtown and in the Flatiron District. But after only a few minutes, some buzz killers from the Bloomberg administration shut the events down over permit issues.
Trojan later worked out a deal with City Hall that allowed it to pay a $3,100 permit fee and set up its Pleasure Cart on West 14th Street. It gave out some 3,600 tinglers in two hours, a rep said.
“We are pleased to have worked with the City of New York to have made this Trojan vibrations giveaway a success,” a company rep said.
Within an hour, the company had handed out hundreds of the vibrators. They come in two versions, which normally sell for $30 or $40, depending on the features.
Batteries were included.
“I think it’s great that they are here now,” said Amanda Brown, 25, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
“If they have the permit, they have every right to be here.”
The event attracted vibrator aficionados and neophytes alike.
“I go way back with vibrators,” said Helene Verin, 57, a designer from the Flatiron District.
“It started when I was 11 with my parent’s [electric] toothbrush. It’s for personal use — and my boyfriend feels great about it!”
Teressa Walsh, 23, said she never used a vibrator before and decided to give one a whirl.
“I hope it will be a good experience,” she said. “My boyfriend is into the idea. He doesn’t feel threatened. It’s not gonna replace him.”
One of the men in line, Homer Turgeon, 24, planned to make use of his vibrator as a somewhat unusual family gift.
“It’s for my mother,” the 24-year-old Manhattan law student said. “She’s a dear, sweet woman. I’ll mail it to her in Washington.”