Naked women on magazine covers, promises of free sex in large letters and explicit images of lewd acts were all there for the eye to see, whether a patron was a hungry housewife or a child coming in for a snack.
But no more.
Less than a half-hour after the Herald contacted the Subway franchise headquarters in Connecticut on behalf of local residents last week, all remnants of the controversial material had been removed from the store, which is near the West Hempstead-Franklin Square border.
The restaurant, which shares a storefront with Fortune Smoke Stax, a cigar shop and convenience store, was recently reopened after an extensive renovation. Local residents were shocked to find that the porn magazines and videos, which were previously hidden behind counters and displays, were prominently displayed on the right side of the store entrance.
Making matters worse, the adult magazines were interspersed with other publications, such as fitness magazines and even Sports Illustrated, which might attract the attention of younger shoppers.
"I don't believe that pornography is a healthy thing to have around," said West Hempstead resident Susan Sorace, who voiced her concerns to the Herald. "I don't think children should be exposed to that. The covers are very explicit."
Les Winograd, public relations coordinator for Subway, said that it is up to the individual store owners to make sure their restaurants are family-friendly. However, if they fail to do so, Subway headquarters will step in, as it did in this case.
"In this particular situation, the owner of the smoke shop is actually a Subway franchisee," Winograd said. "They purchased the franchise and put it inside their [convenience store]. As far as pornographic material or anything that isn't considered family-friendly -- and certainly it is against our policy to have anything that can be accessed by people who shouldn't have access to it -- the individual franchisee is [in charge]."
Irma Scarbough of West Hempstead dined at the restaurant with her 8-year-old grandchild before the material was taken down. "It's not nice," she said. "It bothers me. Even if I didn't have any kids, it would bother me. ... Some magazines just show too much."
When told that the material had been removed, Sorace said, "Great. That's what I wanted to accomplish."
She said that the change represented a victory for community activism. "We have to work as a community. It's not just about making money," she said. "We have to remember that -- it's about community, it's about children."
Neil's Sub Development Corporation is the owner/operator of the Subway. No one from the Westbury-based corporation was available for comment.
This is not the first time a local business has raised the ire of residents for having pornographic material in its store. Last summer, the West Hempstead Civic Association criticized the owners of Hempstead Video, at 300 Hempstead Turnpike, for carrying too much indecent material.
The owners of Hempstead Video said that the adult material was there as a way of competing with bigger chains, like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. The adult magazines and videos were in a separate section of the store, behind the counter and a large white wall, which helped keep children's eyes away from the material.
Comments about this story? JScheer@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.
