Manhattan In Still Centre of the Universe Shocker

More frivolity of a busy Monday morning. It's been commonplace the last few years to decry London's gaining on New York in terms of cultural clout and opportunities for conspicuous consumption. And that is without even taking account of how little Brits care for such baubles.

But if there's one measurement of a city's wealth that can't be gamed, its the prices charged by its ladies of the night. Today brings us a datapoint that illustrates the difference nicely.

On 13 February, Eliot Spitzer arranged for a Manhattan-based call-girl to schlep down for an assignation in Washington DC, no doubt because the nation's capital did not measure up in the eyes of such a seasoned whoremonger. He paid around $4,300 for the privilege, a sum Wonkette decries as a little extravagant.

On 30 March, the News of the World reported that Max Mosley, a fascist scion who really should have known better, engaged in a Nazi-tinged orgy with five prostitutes in a Chelsea dungeon. The price? $5000.

So for the price of one fragrant New Jersey-bred high-end prostitute on the New York market, one can afford FIVE whip-wielding minxes in London. I'm sure that there are a number of reasons for this disparity, not the least of which is the difference between the, um, services rendered. My preferred explanation is that the Russians are not working the same wonders on the whore market that they achieved on the property market.

So put that in your AIM and smoke it. Looks like Sebastian Horsley, producer of the quite literally seminal "Sebastian Horsley's Guide To Whoring" missed out on reaching the pinnacle of his profession when he was denied a visa at Newark Airport.

If the NYC prostitution market is the equivalent of cooking in the 3-Michelin star restaurants of Paris, then poor Sebastian is still toiling away in the back of the Barnetby Top Little Chef