According to a report in the New York Times, an estimated 20 new Adult retailers have opened in the Greenwich Village area in the past 18 months, and local authorities are using every trick in the book to turn the tide on what they consider to be as much an aesthetic blight as a moral one.
Greenwich Village means to prevent Adult retailers from exploiting the language of zoning laws pertinent to their business, which requires that in order for a retailer to be located outside of an Adult entertainment zone, 60 percent of the floor space and of the merchandise must be non-X-rated.
Neon lights and tacky storefronts are the most common sources of complaints regarding the stores. A recent community meeting resulted in Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg hearing complaints for over an hour about the rapid expansion of adult video stores with lewd windows.
Utilizing what is called “sham compliance,” Adult retailers allegedly circumvent the intent of the law, which was written to prevent clusters of such businesses from opening in residential and most commercial areas, by stocking large racks of non-sex-related videos that they never intend to sell.
An inspector from the Office of Midtown Enforcement, the governing authority for the 60-percent rule in Greenwich Village, told the Times about one store he inspected in the Bronx that carried 12,000 adult videos — and a single wall covered with 18,000 copies of Spanish-dubbed Popeye cartoons.
A task force has been formed by a neighborhood association and city officials to pressure landlords to stop renting to Adult retailers. The task force registers complaints with the Office of Midtown Enforcement about retailers who appear to be in violation of regulations.
The Times cites health code violations written for a lack of soap in bathrooms, and tickets from the Fire Department for improper lighting on exit signs, improper fire extinguishers and cigarette butts on the floor — proof of violations of the antismoking law. Old permits are also scrutinized to ensure they were properly filed.
An amended version of the 60-percent law that closes many of loopholes currently being taken advantage of by Adult retailers is now being tested in court. The new version of the regulation would designate any store with peep show booths as a sex shop that must operate in an adult entertainment zone.
If patrons are forced to walk past Adult material to find the non-adult material, that would also take the store out of compliance, forcing the store either to rearrange its products or move to an adult entertainment zone.
For the full story, click here.
