I am not sure I agree with the prevailing assumption that legalization will result in significantly higher prices. In fact, what I have seen argues that prices will likely drop in a lot of cases.
For decade I have traveled to Buffalo, and to a lesser degree, Detroit. In both cases the sex trade on the Canadian side of the border (Niagara, Toronto, Windsor) there were better options at less cost (often half the course—and not just because of the US/Canada exchange rates. The same was true with Seattle vs Vancouver, though the cost of living in Vancouver made the difference less on my small sample size.
Cost is a function of both supply & demand, but is also influenced by risk. When it is legal—or at least not criminalized—the LE risk is less. But additionally, when the women feel they can comfortably go to the police if stalked/threatened by a disgruntled client, that to reduces the risk. When they don’t have to take round about measures to rent a place, or have fewer bribes to pay, etc., this too keeps prices down.
I do not know what will happen between NY and all their neighboring states, but I know a lot of ladies from the area near Erie/Buffalo would work in Toronto, even though they made less per hour and had to commute. For them the safety issues, coupled with it being legal, tipped the scales that direction for them, increasing the supply on the Canadian side, thus decreasing prices.
I do not know what will happen if it is legalized in NY, but if it’s decriminalized I am quite confident prices will drop, not rise.
