The Sunset Park Alliance of Neighbors held a rally and march, apparently to protest and draw attention to the liquor license application of Peyton's Playpen. CB 7 voted no, which they probably would have anyway (see second link below). Peyton's Playpen is place down on 2nd and 39th with a big sign that reads All Nude.
David Galarza, one of the most active members of SPAN, headed up the rally. One of the issue's supporters, and a life-long resident of Sunset, Trinity Lutheran Church's Reverend Sam Cruz, told the Brooklyn Eagle that he doesn't remember these stores from his early years, and he thinks it began to build up when Guiliani "cleaned up" Times Square. I'm not sure about those claims, but he does point out something I'm quite sure is true about the many sex/video shops in working class Sunset Park: "You don't see them doing this in Bay Ridge, and they wouldn't allow it in Park Slope."
Read the article in the Brooklyn Eagle here.
Also check out last week's post about this same issue.
And this one from October about related issues.
And this one from even before that about more related stuff.
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5 comments:
Neither Park Slope nor Bay Ridge have major portion of the interstate running through their neighborhood. Does anyone have a proposal for what to do with the land when they push the XXX stores out? An empty avenue with no foot traffic can quickly become a dangerous place.
That's very true. And since store fronts are emptying out on 5th Avenue, I can't imagine there are people eager to fill in the 3rd Avenue spaces. Now, with the Sam Chang hotel plans stalling, there are fewer chances for new space to be used around 3rd Avenue.
Perhaps some of the new artists renting studio space will want to house themselves in the storefronts. That would look a lot like Elizabeth Street before the boutiques and restaurants moved in.
fyi- from how i heard span members talkin about him, not sure if mr. DG is in the group anymore...
anyway, its prob a zoning issue (the shops are in a manufacturing zone- escaping regulations of a residential one), gotta wait and see how that court case against these shops goes
I will be completely honest, I am a small business owner who is planning to open my own adult bar in Pennsylvania. I used to live in Brooklyn and when I did, I frequented the spots in Brooklyn and Queens. I am a strip club patron.
Having said that, I do not see what the big deal with having a strip club in a neighborhood is. The zoning laws state you cannot open within a certain distance from a school- fair enough. But if the club obeys the zoning laws, they why can't they open their business whereever they choose?
As I said before, I've been a patron of various strip clubs for about 10 years now and I have never encountered nor witnesses any acts of violence EVER. Sure, you may get a random solicitation for prostitution every now and then, but that is done on the downlow.
If a neon sign that reads "All Nude" is your biggest gripe- then tough cookies. This is America and a business owner, within the law, has a right to own and operate any business he or she sees fit. You, as the resident of the neighborhood, for whatever moral issues, may not like it and may voice your opinion as openly and as loudly as you like. But that is the extent of your complain.
Small business is the lifeblood of this city, this state and this country. Stop trying to take money out of a hard working person's pocket simply because you do not approve of "Naked Women". If you don't approve of that sort of thing, fine, don't become a patron. But other than that, leave the business alone. It's not hurting you. In fact, its TAX REVENUE goes towards local improvements and local schools. So that business being there is actually HELPING you.
So why go to all these lengths to hurt the business?
There is no morality in business. If its legal and can make money, it deserves to operate. Case closed.
Please read the accompanying links to see background.
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