Sisters of the Night by Jess Stern. The Startling Story of Prostitution in New York Today. Published in 1956, the book began as an assignment for the Daily News when Stearn’s editor told him to find out what makes prostitutes “tick.” He was told, “Get out and talk to the girls, see the judges, the social workers, the cops, the headshrinkers—you won’t win a Pulitzer Prize but it should be worth reading.” Dragging his feet, the reluctant Stearn complied, going out in search of what one of the book’s reviewers called the “orchidaceous girls” of the city. Prefaced with excerpts from a report by Chief City Magistrate John M. Murtagh to Mayor Wagner of N.Y.