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By describing some issues of the traffic in street prostitution at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries at the Goutte d’Or, this article uncovers the origin of the bad reputation that still clings to the stones of this working-class Paris district. The analysis of the complaints sent to the Commissioner of Police reveals the strength of the conflicts among the local economic actors with comflicting views about public space. While the specific relations of the prostitutes with the other users of the public space enriched some traders, it provoking the jealousy of their colleagues from the formal economy who were unable to benefit from this kind of direct relationship with the pedestrians of the neighborhood.