August 06, 1998
Thanks to: Catholic New York - Lead Story
Cleanup Begins
City starts closing sex shops but neighbor of Holy Cross church remains
By BRIAN CAULFIELD
New York City's enforcement of its anti-porn zoning law is proceeding inch-by-inch. A New York State Supreme Court judge allowed the city to close one Manhattan adult entertainment emporium this week, but another, near Holy Cross Church on 42nd Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues, is still open.
City lawyers pledged to continue arguing that Show World Center should be shut down because of its proximity to the church and its school. Pastors of Holy Cross parish have led protests against the porn palace for decades.
Justice Steven G. Crane, at a hearing in Manhattan Aug. 3, ordered the Harmony Theater, at 279 Church St. in lower Manhattan, temporarily padlocked. He scheduled another hearing on Thursday, Aug. 6, to determine whether the Harmony and three other businesses in the Bronx, Staten Island and Brooklyn, shuttered the previous week, should be permanently closed down.
He said that renovations made to Show World, one of Times Square's largest topless dancing and adult video establishments complicated the matter enough to require a further look. The law, which has overcome a number of court challenges from the industry, requires that sex-related materials be limited to less than 40 percent of a store's stock. To comply, Show World and other such businesses began stocking their shelves with souvenirs and classic movies and put pool tables into some performance areas.
Steven M. Fishner, the city's criminal justice coordinator, said the city would show that Show World is still a threat to public welfare, especially because it is within 500 feet of Holy Cross. Inspectors claimed that as much as 90 percent of Show World's floor space was dedicated to "adult entertainment."
Crane authorized the closing of the Harmony after learning that inspectors saw patrons and dancers engaged in illicit sexual activity and found used condoms on its floor. Herald Price Fahringer, representing the businesses, will appeal.
The battle against sex shops by Holy Cross parish has been "long and hard-fought," said the pastor, Father Peter M. Colapietro. He cited the work of Msgr. Joseph A. McCaffrey, pastor from 1932 to 1968, and Father Robert G. Rappleyea, who led the parish from 1973 until 1985. A plaque honoring Father Rappleyea's efforts to improve the area was dedicated at the Port Authority Terminal across the street from the church in 1985.
"Holy Cross is a very visible presence in the neighborhood, and to have something like this place shoulder to shoulder with us sends a wrong message," Father Colapietro said. "The effort to rid the area of these places has been going on for a long time, and Holy Cross has been a big part of that.
"We are a residential area, despite what most people may think of Times Square. Show World has been a problem with the people here and with our school children, many of whom pass right by on their way to school."
One of the three shops closed when the crackdown began in earnest July 31 is Sharks Go-Go Bar, a block away from St. Margaret Mary Church in the residential Midland Beach section of Staten Island. "It's about time they closed that place," said Mario Pisciottano, a member of the parish. "We've been fighting to get them out of here for a long time."
But residents in largely industrial areas of Manhattan, such as the meat-packing district around West 14th Street, expressed apprehension that their neighborhoods may not be adequately protected by the law and become new centers for porn businesses.
The law, passed in 1995 by the City Council, was challenged on free speech grounds by porn shop operators and the American Civil Liberties Union in state and federal courts and survived a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court last week. After Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg turned down an appeal, Justice John Paul Stevens decided to poll the entire court on the issue. The nine justices, who are in recess, refused July 28 to enjoin the law, which requires sex shops to be located 500 feet from homes, schools, houses of worship and one another.
Queens City Councilman Walter McCaffrey, sponsor of the zoning bill, told CNY that the proximity of the porn shop to Holy Cross was a major factor behind the drafting of the bill.
"The city can now begin to move in on a full attack," he said.
--John Burger contributed to this article.
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