PUBLIC POLICY

Activists targeted hotelier Hank Freid last week as the focal point for their campaign against illegal hotel conversions citywide, calling the much-maligned developer a "scamlord" and picketing his Broadway Hotel this past Saturday.

Mr. Freid's lawyer chimed in this week to make a point -- those hotels aren't actually illegal:  read more »

A new city rule requiring chain restaurants to post the calorie content of their menu items actually takes effect on Friday, April 25--not today, as other news outlets are reporting.  read more »

Still reeling from the fallout of its highly publicized 2007 prostitution bust, embattled Manhattan strip club Scores West has filed for bankruptcy.

Court papers filed on Friday point to "mounting tax debt" and a "loss in sales" at the voluptuous 10,000-square-foot venue at 536 W. 28th St. "as a result of the actions by the New York State Liquor Authority proceeding against the [club] to revoke its liquor license."  read more »

A documentary on the city's waterfront fights, City of Water, premieres this Saturday, April 19, at 1:30 p.m. on local PBS Channel 13. (Check out the trailer here.)

According to the Municipal Art Society:   read more »

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried has come out against Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel’s tower planned to rise next to the Museum of Modern Art, joining neighbors and State Senator Liz Krueger in their opposition to the project.  read more »

Coney Island merchants sent out a terse press release Friday afternoon in response to "an ominous fence which is obstructing the entrances to an entire block of businesses on the boardwalk."

The Parks Department, which erected the fence a day earlier, issued the following explanation via email to The Observer:

The Parks Department is currently doing maintenance work along the boardwalk including the area between West 12th Street and Stillwell Avenue to reinforce its support structures and repair decking material. The affected areas will be repaired or replaced, and fencing will be removed, prior to the start of the busy beach season. While we regret any inconvenience this may present to adjacent business owners, safer structures will be a benefit in the long run and, in the meantime, we are preserving access wherever possible.

Seaside merchants have long complained about the sorry state of Coney Island's rickety boardwalk.

And some say the city's latest attempt to address the situation isn't really helping:

"Instead of fixing the boardwalk in front of the businesses that go from Stillwell [Avenue] to 12th Street, the Parks Department decided to build this enormous barricade in front of all our stores," said Dianna Carlin, owner of the Lola Starr Souvenir Boutique. "So now all of our businesses are completely blocked in by this wall, which they say will be there all summer."

 

Death & Co. co-owner David Kaplan contacted me to express a few concerns about today's Observer article on him and his ongoing liquor-license saga. (Read it here.)

One of his complaints involves my use of the term "bar" to describe his business.

He prefers the term "restaurant lounge," partly because it's more accurate but, perhaps more importantly, also because saying otherwise has the potential to worsen his plight.  read more »

“I think it’s very bad-ass,” said Brooklyn burlesque queen Angie Pontani. “It’s a really bold move and I’m proud of the city for coming up with it.”

She was referring to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s controversial plan to redevelop Coney Island.

“In the face of Coney Island becoming a high-rise luxury condominium development, I think this is definitely a really good scenario,” Ms. Pontani told The Observer. “I think anything that preserves the amusement district is a good idea.”  read more »

Last Thursday's fatal shooting at celebrity hangout Stereo recalled an interesting quote from The Observer's September 2007 article about the since-shuttered Chelsea nightclub's recurring legal troubles:

"Stereo strongly believes that their patrons from Tuesday through Saturday are generally not into fighting or carrying weapons."  read more »

Behold! The city's first public pay toilet. It might look shiny and clean -- built of stainless steel, according to a technician -- but boy, was it cold on opening day!

Chilling down to the toes, in fact, despite the added layer of protection of an optional disposable seat cover.

Just 25 cents (coins only) buys you up to 15 minutes on the self-sanitizing throne at Madison Square Park, plenty of time, I thought, to sit down, flip open the laptop, and compose this blog post.

   read more »

The new landlord of an old Chinatown shop that was repeatedly raided by counterfeit-merch cops this past summer has counter-sued the city for $8.5 million in damages.The offending retailer, known as G.T. Trading, has since been booted from the premises, located at 196 Grand Street, and the landlord claims to have even removed the former tenant's secret stash room.

Yet, an ongoing court injunction prevents the owner from leasing out the now-vacant 400-square-foot space and may further cause the owner to default on his mortgage, according to court papers.  read more »

You probably already suspected that your broker was a crook: $4,000 commission on a one-bedroom apartment?!?! For surfing Craigslist? Come on!

But a sex offender?

Newsday reported this week: "Sex offenders with misdemeanor convictions can get real estate licenses." (Convicted felons cannot.)

“It’s giving a sex offender . . . a key to your house,” said Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick), who, as head of the consumer protection committee, introduced a bill to close the misdemeanor loophole for sex offenders and require licenses to be revoked if agents are found guilty of misdemeanor sex crimes....

The pervy-friendly blog Sex Offenders Issues responded to the proposed legislation with outrage:

"Damn! What can they do? Why don't you say, sorry, you sex offender just can't live. You cannot eat, you cannot have a job, you cannot have a life, period. This is basically what you are all saying. When are you going to bust open the concentration camps created by Haliburton and fire up the ovens? I am so sick of this NAZI BS! When will the mass executions begin?"

Not to sound like a rapist-apologist (nobody wants a spare-key-equipped sex offender roaming around their homes) but why is the government strictly targeting the pervs?

By the same logic, aren't there scores of other shady characters to be wary of key sharing?  read more »