By Albert Amateau
Volume 74, Number 15 | August 11 – 17 , 2004
Porn, preservation and quality of life top list at mayor’s forum
There were jeers outside from police and firefighters demonstrating for union contracts but mostly cheers inside from Village residents when Mayor Michael Bloomberg came on Monday night with some of his commissioners to a Greenwich Village Block Associations forum.
Porn, prostitution, liquor licensing, rowdy youth on the waterfront, plus landmarks, zoning and preservation were the hot issues at the Aug. 9 event, moderated by g.v.b.a.’s Marilyn Dorato, before a capacity crowd of 300 that filled the Village Community School auditorium on W. 10th St.
On his entrance, Bloomberg received a standing ovation from Village residents anxious to tell him about the neighborhood’s quality-of-life problems. And despite a few boos during the course of the evening, the mayor left amid grateful applause.
“I wouldn’t want a porn parlor in my neighborhood and you shouldn’t either,” said the mayor, who broached the subject in his opening remarks. But given the constitutional guarantees regarding content of merchandise, the resolution is far from simple.
Bloomberg said the city is seeking a common-sense definition of pornography to replace the present court-ordered 60-40 rule that allows shops to offer 40 percent “adult entertainment” items if 60 percent of the stores’ goods are not defined as pornography.
“The trouble is that a lot of stuff like sex toys and peep-show holes are not considered pornographic — they’re called ‘marital aids,’ ” said Allan Jacobs, a W. 13th St. resident.
“This is becoming another Times Sq.,” said another resident, complaining that porn and prostitution have changed the character of the Village.
John Feinblatt, the mayor’s Criminal Justice coordinator, replied, that the city is trying to change things. “We want a common-sense definition of pornography,” he said. A new legal definition of pornography is tied up in a court injunction and until it is resolved, “we are stuck with the old 60-40 rule,” Feinblatt said.
Bloomberg, however, promised to pursue legal means against porn. “My Corporation Counsel will fight every case,” he said. And City Councilmember Christine Quinn said she was meeting with city agencies soon to find ways to make it harder for porn shops to operate. Convincing landlords not to rent space to porn shops will be one of the goals, said Quinn.
Tom Doyle, a Horatio St. resident, said that prostitution is a blight on the West Village. Feinblatt responded by saying his office will urge the judge of the Midtown Community Court, which hears prostitution cases, to let prostitutes know that the city takes the offense seriously.
Elaine Goldman, a member of the Christopher St. Residents and Merchants Association, said conditions on Christopher St. have been “intolerable,” with masses of youth coming from Pier 45 in the Hudson River Park, surging through the street after the 1 a.m. closing of the pier. “My neighbors and I haven’t slept all summer,” she said, noting that Christopher St. has been a problem for years.
Deputy Inspector Kevin Fitzgerald, however, replied that as part of a new initiative he has assigned additional Sixth Precinct police to the West Village beat, which has improved the situation. Goldman acknowledged that the scene has been better in the past two weeks. But she called on the Hudson River Park Trust, which runs the waterfront park, including Pier 45, known as “the Christopher Pier,” to close the pier earlier in the evening.
However, Connie Fishman, H.R.P.T. president, said the Lesbian Gay Transgender Committee of Community Board 2 has been asking the Trust to keep the pier open until 4 a.m. “Our objective is not to treat Pier 45 as a separate park,” said Fishman.
Preserving the character of the Village was also on the minds of neighbors at the forum. They applauded City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden’s announcement that the city would consider rezoning the West Village and its waterfront to encourage low-rise development. Indeed the zoning issue arose a second time after Bloomberg left the forum after an hour and a quarter.
Andrew Berman, director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, received a favorable response to his call for changes in the city’s community facilities zoning, which enables institutions to develop buildings larger than existing zoning allows if they include community uses.
Burden said that a G.V.S.H.P. report and recommendations on community facilities, “Beyond the Kimmel Center,” issued last year, could serve as the model for a new look at the zoning law. Berman later said Burden’s remark was an indication that the city was at last recognizing the community facilities zoning as an important issue.
Robert Tierney, head of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, said the department was looking beyond last fall’s designation of the Gansevoort Market Historic District. “We’re looking at areas [in the Village] that have not been designated,” he said, earning a round of applause. In addition, the L.P.C. has also added a staff member to inspect and enforce landmark regulations, Tierney added.
Albert Bennett, of the Morton St. Block Association, said he had a problem with the Board of Standards and Appeals, the agency that grants or denies zoning variances. “Won’t you do something to lessen their power?” asked Bennett, adding, “There is nothing worse for the neighborhood than the variances they grant.” Another Villager pressed the issue, criticizing the variance granted more than two years ago that resulted in the development of the Morton Square residential complex on a vacant truck freight yard at Morton and West Sts.
Bloomberg, however, reminded Villagers that he recently appointed a new B.S.A. chairperson, Meenakshi Srinivasan. “We have new management and we’ll take a look at the results,” he said.
Villagers complained about the State Liquor Authority, which grants liquor licenses to clubs, lounges, restaurants and bars that have been proliferating in the new Gansevoort District. “What do you feel about creating a city liquor license agency?” asked Carol Feinman, speaking on behalf of the Jane St. Association.
“I’m for local democracy,” replied the mayor, adding, “I’m skeptical that the state would give up that power, but would I support it? Yes.”
The number of films shot in Village locations has affected the quality of life in the neighborhood, said David Gruber. “In the past two weeks we’ve had six films shooting at the same time,” he said.
Katherine Oliver, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Film and Theater, noted that moviemaking was a $5 billion per year industry in the city and boosts the economy by promoting the city’s glamour all over the world. To preserve the neighborhoods that are so attractive to filmmakers, “We remind producers that they’re filming in people’s neighborhoods,” Oliver said.
The Mayor’s Film Office also monitors the number of shoots in a particular neighborhood and if the number is high, “we let them rest for a while,” Oliver said. The Bedford Barrow Commerce intersection, for example, was declared a hot spot and the city hasn’t given a permit for a shoot there in the past month, she noted.
The mayor paid tribute to Councilmembers Quinn and Alan Gerson, who also attended the forum. “I don’t always agree with them, but they do listen and I listen to them. They are among the best on the Council,” he said.
Although optimistic about the future of the city, he said the threat of terrorism makes these times dangerous and would remain dangerous for quite a while. Regarding the Republican National Convention, he said he hoped it would be a boon to the city. The remark, however, drew hisses and boos from the crowd. “I tried to get the Democratic Convention here too,” he persisted.
Regarding convention protestors, he said the city had issued a permit for one gathering of 50,000 people in Central Park — to NOW, the National Organization of Women. “But we denied another application [for United for Peace and Justice] for 250,000 because there is just no room in the park for that many people.
