Eight years after filing a lawsuit aimed at shutting down stores that sell pornographic material, the Sunset Park community may be getting closer to stripping those businesses of their commercial classification.
"We just got a call from the law department to tell us they expect this to move ahead," says Community Board 7 District Manager Jeremy Laufer.
While the establishments, located along 3rd Avenue in the heart of a residential area, appear to be adult in nature, they are legally not considered sex shops because most of them do not exclusively sell pornographic movies and magazines.
"To walk down the street and see pornographic material in the window and have to explain it to my children, what is that?" says Rev. Samuel Cruz, of Trinity Lutheran Church.
If the community wins the lawsuit, it would revise regulations to reduce the number of adult businesses in the neighborhood.