by Mike Schnitzel
On Jan. 12, Acting State Supreme Court Justice Ira B. Warshawsky turned down Hempstead Video¹s application for a Yellowstone injunction, which would prevent Rockaway Associates from evicting Xpressions, the adult store owned by Hempstead Video, from its Rockaway Avenue premises.
In his decision, Warshawsky said that although it appeared that Hempstead Video might have been a candidate for relief provided by a Yellowstone injunction, a decision has not been rendered as to whether the company was in violation of village ordinances, and that matter should be decided by a court more familiar with the history of the case.
³It¹s a step in the right direction,² said Rockaway Associates attorney Mike Sullivan. ³I am cautiously optimistic that Hempstead Video will never operate at that location again.²
The next step would be for Rockaway Associates to have a judge determine that Hempstead Video had violated its lease agreement, allowing for an eviction of Xpressions. However, Hempstead Video has the opportunity to appeal the court¹s decision, which would delay Rockaway Associates from taking such action.
Hempstead Video attorney Paula Frome was on vacation and could not be reached for comment regarding any pending appeals.
Xpressions operated in the village without problems until December 2002, when a former employee informed the village that the store did, in fact, have enclosed viewing booths. Code enforcement officials inspected the store after receiving the tip, discovered the booths and cited the store for violating its agreement with the village. The store was allowed 20 days to correct the situation, but didn¹t make the change until six months later.
Under the terms of an agreement reached between the village and the store in May 1996, Xpressions was allowed to operate with the stipulations that its windows were covered up, the sign outside the store read only ³adult shop² or ³adult store,² and that enclosed viewing booths were not permitted on the premises. The presence of those viewing booths is what constituted the violation, according to the village.
As a result, a lower court ruled that the agreement between the village and Hempstead Video was void, and the village could invoke Local Law 4, which prohibits businesses with adult themes from operating within 1,000 feet of a church or a school or within 500 feet of a home. In fact, the only location within the village where an adult-themed store could operate legally is on Sunrise Highway near the Queens border. according to the village clerk. Last Aug. 17, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph A. DeMaro upheld a temporary injunction granted to the village by the lower court, forcing Hempstead Video to cease operations of Xpressions.
According to a police spokesperson for the Fifth Precinct, a few complaints about Xpressions had been phoned in by residents, but upon investigation by the Problem-Oriented Policing unit, they were found to be without merit.
According to Village Attorney Mike McKenna, Hempstead Video has received numerous violations for operating its business contrary to its agreement with the village. ³My recollection is 457 [violations have been issued],² said McKenna. McKenna said that that case is on hold, pending decisions on the permanent injunction and eviction of Hempstead Video.
The village is seeking a permanent injunction against Hempstead Video to prevent them from ever operating at its current location in violation of its local law. The case will be heard on Feb. 6 in New York State Supreme Court before Justice Michelle Woodard.
