By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — For two decades, residents near Broadway and W. 73rd Street have clashed with a bookseller who they say takes up too much sidewalk space with tables stacked high with paperbacks.
Now the two sides in the long-running battle have carved out some common ground: both don't want to see a new newsstand open up on the block.
"It's one of the most congested corners in the city," said 74-year-old Anne Cunningham, who's lived on W. 73rd Street for 32 years.
Cunningham said she was "shocked" when she heard about plans for a newsstand. "I couldn't believe it," Cunningham said. "I said, where is there room for it? The existing problems on that block are not taken care of."
By "existing problems," Cunningham is referring to bookseller Kirk Davidson, a vendor so well-known to local residents and officials that most refer to him by his first name only.
Davidson set up his book stand 24 years ago. Neighbors have been sparring with him almost as long. They argue his stand, which stretches over more than a dozen tables, is a nuisance that doesn't follow the law.
Davidson, 53, contends that he's "just a guy trying to make a living."
"If I was taking up 10 blocks, it would be one thing," Davidson said. "I'm just taking up one little block. Ask Donald Trump why he has his name on buildings all over New York City, New Jersey and casinos."
The police and City Councilwoman Gale Brewer have stepped in to try to resolve the dispute over the years, to no avail. Davidson hasn't been shy about fighting back, and says he has more then 35 pending lawsuits against the city and the 20th Precinct.
Some say Davidson's book stand is a neighborhood asset that adds European flavor to the Upper West Side.
"It's cultural, it adds an ambiance to the city, and to the West side especially," said Frank Villalobos, 63, of Brooklyn, who said the stand reminds him of book stalls in Paris.
On Tuesday, Davidson's stand along Broadway shared space with two newspaper boxes, two mail boxes, two trash cans, a Nuts 4 Nuts vendor, a jewelry vendor and a CD vendor.
Against that busy backdrop, vendor Iqbal Sayyed applied for a permit to open a 12-foot by six-foot newsstand on the northern end of the block, a few feet from one of Davidson's tables.
Like his foes in the neighborhood, Davidson is against the idea.
"Why doesn't he put it around the corner and leave this little strip alone that God gave me?" Davidson said Thursday.
Sayyed, who didn't attend this week's Community Board 7 meeting where his permit was discussed, has told neighbors that his newsstand would enhance safety on the block by providing more "eyes on the street," said Dee Rieber, president of the W. 75th Street Block Association.
Rieber said another newsstand in the area "just doesn't make any sense," because there are six others within a two block radius.
DNAinfo could not reach Sayyed for comment.
Cunningham and other neighbors organized a protest against the proposed newsstand. They handed out yellow flyers labelled "Say No to Sidewalk Overload."
Their passion was enough to sway Community Board 7's transportation committee earlier this week. The committee voted against Sayyed's permit application. The matter goes to the full board in September.
Davidson says while he agrees with the residents about blocking the new newsstand, he's not planning to join their protest.
"I'm going to let them do all the fighting," Davidson said. "They've been fighting me for 24 years trying to get rid of me."
