Dominatrix claims harassment, intimidation forcing her out of Brooklyn
BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A dominatrix has feelings too -- that's the message from a Brooklyn woman who says she is being forced out of her Bedford-Stuyvesant dungeon.
Charlotte Taillor, 30, says a neighbor has been protesting her home-based BDSM business, the Taillor Collective.
"Can you imagine having someone scream outside that you're going to snatch a kid?" she said. "It gets to you...It's upsetting."
Taillor started the business two years ago and moved to Bed-Sty in January because she needed more space. But her neighbor has complained about strangers knocking on her door and began protesting outside on the sidewalk.
In one cell phone video, she is overheard saying, "And the weirdo guys that come here, they are convicted men they use to instruct bondage."
But Taillor says she and her clients are harmless.
"We're wonderful people, but we like to learn how to spank somebody safely, how to use a whip without breaking someone's skin," she said. "We're doing that safely, if that's what you guys are in to."
Taillor says the ranting and raving has been accompanied by flyers reading "not in my backyard" and community meetings to kick her out of the neighborhood.
She plans to move as soon as she raises the $15,000 it will take to break her lease and uninstall her technical equipment. She hopes an online fundraiser will help with the expenses.
"The (Fundrazr) is really like a get me out of here, immediately, save me," she said. "Because I don't want to stay here with this woman screaming outside. But it's not a food truck. We can't just pick up and leave."
Eyewitness News has made several attempts to contact the neighbor who has been protesting but was unsuccessful.
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