Case of the Classy Madam

By Alessandra Stanley

A blueblood's bordello is busted

It is a common male fantasy: ladylike in the living room, the woman turns unbelievably bawdy in bed. Advertised discreetly in the Yellow Pages as the "Finesse" escort service, Sheila Devin's Manhattan apartment was host to trim, elegant women, who for as much as $2,000 a night would allegedly indulge wealthy clients in their wildest dreams. What no one could have imagined when she was arrested last week was the true identity of the woman behind the scenes. A professional madam at night, Devin by day was Sydney Biddle Barrows, of the New Jersey Biddies, one of the country's oldest and most distinguished families, say police. She and her mother are listed in the Social Register with the notation "Myf," the elite code for descendants of Mayflower Pilgrims.

Dubbing her the "Mayflower Madam," the tabloids rushed into killer-competitive frenzies over her story. The New York Post explained her impeccable lineage in breathless detail and bragged to its readers that it had obtained nude photos of Barrows taken during a 1973 European tour. Alas, the editors informed somewhat baffled readers, "they were not suitable for publication in a family newspaper." When the Daily News printed a revealing snapshot, along with an exclusive interview with Barrows after her arrest, the Post promptly splashed across half a page its picture of the young socialite reclining naked upon an Amsterdam hotel bed.

Until she surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney's office after charges of promoting prostitution had been brought against her, Barrows, 32, had allegedly run a 20-girl, $1 million-a-year prostitution ring, one of the largest known to New York police. In her own way, the blond, slim, plain-faced patrician was as fastidious and thrifty as any of her Puritan ancestors. Recruiting models, actresses, some housewives and students from escort service ads and personal contacts, Barrows conducted grueling interviews. Besides good looks, she insisted upon intelligence and, above all, "eloquence." The chosen few were rated A, B or C in ascending order, depending on their talents, the A's receiving about $125 an hour, while the C's commanded $400 an hour to $1,000 for the night. For $2,000, a customer could sign up for a ten-hour session that included dinner out, a show, dancing and recreation. The call girls carried attache cases equipped with a credit-card machine for their clients' convenience. Barrows' establishment, based in a brownstone, took 60% of each woman's earnings. The women had to shave their legs daily, and Barrows kept careful menstrual and weight charts on them. Those who got a bit flabby were suspended from work for two days for each extra pound. "She ran a pretty tight ship," concedes one police officer.

She also kept meticulous notes. When they raided her town house after finding out about the business, reportedly from a disgruntled call girl, investigators discovered a not-so-little black book with the names of more than 3,000 clients, a list so rich with executives, athletes, Arab sheiks, foreign officials, movie stars and prominent society figures that one awed officer called it a Who's Who. Each patron's pet vices were neatly inked next to his name. One notation cautioned that the customer often reeked of garlic. Another, more refined regular was so valued he was rewarded with champagne and a free one-hour session on Valentine's Day. Barrows' notation alongside his name: "This is good business relations. Besides, we love him so much." One young Texas executive had noted as his preference: "Two tall busty blonds--with constant interaction between the girls." There were reports that the CIA had asked for the names of some foreign clients for possible use as informants. Officials said that others might be called as witnesses in the case.

A taskmaster at work, Barrows also knew how to play. She threw lavish formal Christmas parties for her employees and clients, taking homey snapshots of some of the less circumspect guests. To celebrate New Year's Eve, she allowed her employees to keep half of the take; women who worked through the entire night kept 60%. For all her high living, Barrows believed in noblesse oblige: she volunteered to buy groceries for an elderly neighbor and donated money to the city's Meals-on-Wheels program.

Though hardly to the bordello born, Barrows had a background in legitimate business. After attending the Stoneleigh-Burnham boarding school for girls in Greenfield, Mass., Barrows enrolled in Manhattan's Fashion Institute of Technology, where she studied merchandising and business management. Graduating first in her class, she won a $1,000 scholarship to advance her studies. She spent the money touring Europe with her boyfriend from The Bronx, Steve Rozansky, who last week peddled the pictures of her to New York newspapers. Says Rozansky, now a casino blackjack dealer: "She told me my New York Jewish accent would always make me seem dumb. She was very proud of her family, fond of going to the Mayflower Ball." After returning to New York in 1973, they broke up, and Barrows worked diligently for three years in the Abraham & Straus department stores' executive-trainee program.

Why Barrows turned to the life of a madam mystifies acquaintances. One classmate recalled that the well-connected but cash-poor student was "haunted" by a need to make money. Rozansky blamed her rebellious streak, which, he said, "was part of her going out with me." Though surprised by Barrows' secret life, the ex-boyfriend was not really shocked. "I knew that whatever she chose to do would be definitely successful," he noted, "done with taste and class." That was apparent to the spandex-clad streetwalkers who gaped when a handcuffed Barrows was brought to their cell dressed in a demure gray suit and pearl silk blouse. A prostitute asked her who her procurer was and, when she replied that she had none, admiringly dubbed her a "female pimp." The ladies applauded when, released on $7,500 bail and surrounded by four high-powered attorneys, Barrows coolly paid up front with crisp $100 bills. --By Alessandra Stanley.

Reported by RajiSamghabadi/New York

With reporting by Raji Samghabadi/New York