By Nicole Falco
Hempstead Video has operated at the intersection of Rockaway Avenue since 1994. It sells lingerie, sex toys and adult videos. Because a local law prohibiting such a business was passed by the Village Board of Trustees after the store opened, it was allowed to operate with stipulations, including that it could not have enclosed viewing rooms, its signage could only read "adult shop" or "adult store," and its windows must be covered. The village contends that Hempstead Video forfeited the agreement when it installed six enclosed viewing booths.
The village discovered the booths in January 2003. In January 2004, U.S. District Court Magistrate E. Thomas Boyle ruled in favor of the village. Hempstead Video challenged Boyle's decision in the Court of Appeals, but on May 31, Second Circuit judges Pierre N. Leval, Jose A. Cabranes and Robert A. Katzmann upheld it.
"We're very happy," said Mayor Edward Cahill. "We have been waiting two years while this has been going through the court system."
Since Boyle's ruling, Village Code Enforcement has been issuing summonses to Hempstead Video for violating Local Law 4, which says that such businesses cannot operate within 1,000 feet of churches and schools or within 500 feet of homes. The store is within 500 feet of the Brooklyn Avenue School as well as a residential district. While the case was pending in the Court of Appeals, Hempstead Video did not have to answer the summonses, but according to the village's attorney, Stanley Camhi, of Jaspan, Schlesinger & Hoffman in Garden City, "The village can now go ahead and enforce the adult-uses law [Local Law 4] if it so chooses."
"Being that the case is completed and we have won, all the summonses will be returnable to [village] court," Cahill said.
Hempstead Video, which is owned by James Alessandria, can petition the Court of Appeals for a full-panel hearing or petition to have the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Both are rare, according to Camhi.
While she maintains that her client's business is legal, Garden City attorney Paula Schwartz Frome said she does not expect to appeal the latest ruling on Hempstead Video's behalf, but added, "I think the court was wrong."
Ultimately, Cahill said, he would like to see the business leave the village. He said the store could remain open as a lingerie store, according to village code.
"I think it's just a matter of time before we get this place out of the village," said Village Attorney Mike McKenna.
How it began
When Hempstead Video opened, it did not obtain a mercantile license. The village immediately enacted Local Law 4. Hempstead Video filed a federal suit against the village, charging that it had violated its Constitutional rights.
In May 1996, the two sides reached an agreement based on the stipulations, and the store was grandfathered in. Hempstead Video agreed that if it were found to be in violation of any of the stipulations, it would have 20 days to correct the situation.
In December 2002, the village received a tip from a former employee that the store had installed six viewing rooms, or enclosed booths, and that they had been there since 1997. In addition, the doors to the booths could be locked, and toilet paper dispensers were available to users.
In January 2003, code enforcement saw the booths first-hand and cited the store. The store management was asked to remove the booths, but did not. Management said that the 18 inches between the top of the booths' walls and the ceiling meant they weren't actually enclosed. That June, the doors were removed, but not in time, according to the village and the courts.
Comments about this story? NFalco@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
