2005/06/15 Council Agenda Packet

complained: "Every one of our potential renters refer to those stores. They are unhappy to see this type of clientele in a residential neighborhood." The owner of an adjacent 55 -unit apartment house, however, claimed to have a waiting list. At one of several protest rallies in front of the stores, one man who had brought his two young sons, said: "Bringing tip kids in this environment is hard. My oldest started to ask, What's that, Daddy, as we walk by their big signs." The explicit signage and gaudy lighting that draw attention to adult entertainment uses are a focus of much of the local condemnation. "These gross caricatures -of sexual objects are an insult," said a member of Manhattan Community Board 4. "It's all psychological, said a store owner in Murray Hill directly across the street from a triple -X video store. "The store looks terrible but they're not doing anything wrong." A Chelsea resident agreed: "The problem is not that its a porn store but that it looks like hell." Some residents perceive other impacts emanating from thepresence of an adult entertainment use. Residents reported seeing prostitutes for the first time on Third Avenue and 37th Street, in Manhattan, a result, allegedly, of the presence of a 24-hour triple -X video store. A local civic group held frequent demonstrations and set up a table on the sidewalk where volunteers sat and harangued customers of the triple -X video store. Although the signage has been described as muted, passersby had a clear view through the windows of the store interior. "It's an assault to the eye," said a member of the Murray Hill Committee Zoning Alliance who led twice -weekly protests and claimed to have gathered 7,000 signatures opposing the adult use. The owner masked the windows but eventually closed citing lack of business. Neighbors joined in nightly demonstrations outside an upscale, nude cabaret, Runway 69, on Austin Street in Forest Hills, Queens. The landlord was subjected to a barrage of telephone calls protesting the presence of the nude dancers. "I don't want to sound like I'm all for it [the nude club]," said one local merchant, "but Forest Hills is changing." The club replaced a disco that attracted police attention because of the young, rowdy crowd. Afraid that the adult entertainment use would increase congestion, attract disreputable outsiders and attract crime, the demonstrators continued until the landlord negotiated to buy out the club's lease. Referring to the First Amendment right of free speech that covers adult entertainment uses, a member of a neighborhood association in the East 60s in Manhattan claimed: "Everybody has a right to go to these places but when it becomes a nuisance, when it becomes a major problem, we can exercise our First Amendment rights to protest noise, sanitation problems, traffic and crimes." 46 EVER00145