Former Screw publisher Al Goldstein isn’t broke anymore after selling his house Pompano Beach for nearly $2 million. And he got to keep his 11-foot-tall foam statue of a hand with its middle finger extended.
According to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Goldstein, 68, sold his waterfront mansion last Friday to two investors who plan to gut the mansion and build two houses on the land.
Goldstein’s adult tabloid folded this year after lagging circulation and ongoing legal battles drained his finances. Screw had been published for 35 years.
Pompano Beach Mayor John Rayson was pleased to see Goldstein, and his finger, go.
"Did he take his finger with him?" Pompano Beach Mayor John Rayson asked. "Good. I think it will be a calmer neighborhood. I didn't like the finger. I know it's a free speech issue, but it was embarrassing. Every time I went out on my boat I'd see it."
Goldstein unveiled the finger in 1998, The finger was originally a prop on ABC’s “Spin City”, but was purchased by Goldstein in 1998. Pompano Beach was unable to order Goldstein to remove it because it was classified as art.
Goldstein moved to Port Charlotte, where he will commute to Los Angeles to work on adult films.
