NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Dozens of locals who protested the recently-opened Romantic Depot in Clinton Hill on Friday were met by counter protesters who rallied in support of the sex shop.
The Clinton Hill outlet, which opened Valentine’s Day on the corner of Fulton Street and Washington Avenue, is the first location of the adult chain to open in Brooklyn. The store has locations in Harlem, Queens and the Bronx, as well.
A group of locals who feel the purveying of sex toys and adult novelties is too salacious for their neighborhood, attempted to weaponize the city’s zoning code to give Romantic Depot the boot at a community precinct meeting on Tuesday, the Brooklyn Paper reported.
The code says adult establishments cannot be opened within 500 feet of schools or places of worship.
Two churches and a mosque are within 500 feet of the new store, but police say that by refraining from selling pornography, the store is adhering to the letter of the law.
An online petition to relocate the store has garnered 149 signatures as of Friday afternoon.
“This location and the store's overt displays with wrap-around signage and neon lights are not in step with the surrounding institutions, nor does the business embody the way many residents would like to see Fulton St. evolve,” the petition says.
Supporters of the store point out that workers check ID at the door and that the store places novelty items at the front so cheeky youngsters can’t see the most explicit items if they try to sneak in.
The exterior of the store has no explicit imagery, instead displaying text advertising “intimate lingerie,” luxury toys” and “adult novelties.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, Colby Hamilton, told the Brooklyn Paper the agency and the Department of Buildings had conducted an inspection and determined the store was a retail, rather than adult, establishment, so it was in compliance with the zoning ordinance.
The store posted a sign outside that promises to act as “good neighbors” and operate in a “tasteful and fun way,” according to the Brooklyn Paper.
Related
Related
