this may be the catalyst the city needs to shut down the block or at least some of the seedier places.

I expect they are going to have a hard time getting permits to rebuild.

Man I have some fond memories of going to the Pussycat Club and seeing all the sexy young girls lined up along the wall just waiting for me to pull out a few benjamins. I was like a kid in a candy store in that place! I guess it was gone before this fire however.

I know you remember it Yoko.  

The Pussycat is still there.  Closed at the moment but still there.

According to news reports and the people I spoke to the fire started not at the GAyety theater but at the GAYETY SHOW WORLD which is across the street from the Hustler on the north side.  The most damage seems to be in the strip from that book store to Crazy John's.

Just looking at the damage it is hard to believe it started at the Hustler.

I never visited the Block...always planned for you to give me a tour, but we just never got around to it.  Lesson learned...

Being a native and current resident of Baltimore I can tell you that they have been many attempts to shut down the Block. In the early nineties their was an undercover investigation and high profile raid of the entire strip by MSP. All MSP succeeded in doing was embarassing itself when it came to light that several of the troopers became involved with dancers and an owner's wife.
 The CEO of AlexBrowne railed against the Block and said it hindered the business district. AlexBrowne was acquired by NY Trust and subsequently Deutche Bank.
 I recall there being a fire in the mid eighties and have heard that there was an even larger fire in the fifties where BCFD suffered fatalities. Some of the buildings date to 1904 when The Great Fire took place, destroying half the city.
 In my forty years six mayors have come and gone and the Block is still there. Rest assured you will have plenty of opportunities to visit at your liesure.

I too was saddened to hear of the fire.  I had been a visitor down there since 1985 (who knows, maybe we remember some of the same people), when I got my first introduction to the hobby.  I too have met some dancers who were basically good people who may have been down on their luck, and chose to work there rather than draw welfare.

Sounds like the south side of the street (the "odd" numbers) escaped damage, as well as Custom House alley, and will reopen soon.

Just afraid that the city may use the fire as an excuse to try to abolish The Block for good.