By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — West Village restaurant owner Pablo Manso didn't think twice about advertising the specials at Café Español on a sign he put out on the sidewalk in front of the Spanish eatery.
Then he was slapped with two $100 fines.
"They said it was in the way," Manso said of the Department of Sanitation officers who issued him the summonses for obstructing the sidewalk, which he disputes. "It’s ridiculous. A $100 fine for that is absurd."
Manso and other restaurant owners have had a rude awakening since officers began a crackdown on sandwich board-style sidewalk advertising in the neighborhood earlier this year. The signs are legal, but only if they're kept within three feet of the business' building line. As the department has issued more tickets and warnings, area businesses have been playing a cat-and-mouse game, finding new ways to avoid the fines — but keep the signs.
Sergio Castillo, 22, who works at Carmine Street's popbar, a specialty shop selling frozen gelato Popsicles, said the shop was fined several months ago for its sidewalk sign.
"We didn’t think it was illegal," Castillo said in defense.
But instead of abandoning the advertising altogether, employees are now instructed to keep the sign tucked away throughout the day and then to haul it out to the sidewalk after 5 p.m.
Sal Vitale, 25, a long-time manager at Famous Joe’s Pizza next door, said that many neighborhood signs come out after 5 p.m. because that's when sanitation workers head home for the day.
"After 5 p.m., you can do whatever you want," he said.
According to the city code, "sidewalk areas must be kept free from any obstruction that could impede pedestrian traffic."
So far this year, the department has issued 18,468 violations for sidewalk obstructions, a category that includes the signs as well as clothes racks, garbage bins, ATMs and other objects, Department of Sanitation spokesman Keith Mellis said. That's up six percent from 2009, when the department issued 17,404 violations.
City Council Speaker Council Quinn, whose district encompasses the West Village stretch, has proposed cutting the department's $5 million enforcement program, arguing that the officers cost more than they bring in.
Quinn's sentiments echo those in the community, where business owners say they're startled by the city's sudden crackdown on a longstanding advertising practice.
Liam Hendrick, who owns Mr. Dennehy's Irish pub on Carmine Street near Seventh Avenue, said he was warned by Sanitation Department officers about two months ago to watch where he put his signs.
"We have a zero tolerance policy right now," the officer told Hendrick, who said he was unaware of any policy limiting the signs at the time.
Hendrick said he now tries to keep his signs within three feet of the building line, where they're allowed to stand, but is overwhelmed with having to follow yet another regulation.
"It’s just one more crazy thing when you’re in business. This is a crazy city for running a business," he said.
Vitale, whose family has owned Famous Joe’s for 40 years, was equally frustrated. While the pizzeria hasn't been fined for signage, it has received numerous tickets for an outdoor table that he said customers sometime move away from the property line.
"Whatever the city’s got to do to make money," Vitale, who lives in Hell's Kitchen, said, rolling his eyes. "You never win."
While it may frustrate business owners, Mellis said the law is intended to keep sidewalks open to pedestrians so that they don’t trip and fall.
Queens resident Jeff Calbo, 21, who works at Grom, an Italian gelato chain around the corner from popbar, said it makes sense to stop restaurants from crowding sidewalks with signs.
"There’s a lot of people, especially on this intersection,” he said, noting that Grom lists its specials on one of its exterior windows instead of an A-frame on the street.
But for others, the business attracted by the signs makes up for the risk of fines.
West Village resident Marlo Scott, the owner of Sweet Revenge cupcake shop on Carmine Street, said she got a ticket earlier this year for her sidewalk sign, but continues to keep it out on display.
"You just cross your fingers that you won’t [get another]," said Scott, 40. "It’s the cost of doing business."
