Ever since Adario Strange took over as editor roughly six months ago, the New York Press has become increasingly obsessed with sex. Not just sex, mind you, but "naughty" sex, "underground" sex, and "secret" sex. So it is almost comically redundant that the paper should be calling this week's edition "The Sex Issue."

We have nothing against sex, quite the opposite, but there seems to be some kind of message in the thinning alt-weekly's focus on fluid exchange.

Could it be that the Press has conceded that it can't grab readers from the Voice and the Onion (or even amNY), and so they've focused their sights on taking down that other venerable NYC weekly Screw? Or could there be pressure from the Press' ad sales department — one that you'll notice takes a lot of business from masseuses and escorts — has broken down the church-state barrier in order to please its clients?

And is it really worth it? Everyone knows sex sells, but can it entice people to pick up a paper they can't even give away?

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