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COURIER L 4 IFE, JAN. 25–31, 2019 M B G
REFUND, PLEASE: Benz Jewelers owner Freddie Benz demanded the city refund the $6,000
fi ne he paid for his allegedly illegal sign after Council recently passed legislation that temporarily
prevents such penalties from being issued. File photo by Steve Solomonson
Reclaiming
their fi nes
Pol: City must repay biz owners for sign fi nes
as part of moritorium on signage violations
BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
The city must refund the thousands of
dollars it collected from small business
owners it fi ned for their stores’ signs ,
according to a Bensonhurst state pol,
who blasted offi cials for refusing to
guarantee reimbursements in a recently
passed bill that prevents such
violations from being issued.
“If we’re serious about supporting
small businesses, the city has to stop
doing things that are anti-small business,”
said Assemblyman William Colton.
Forty-six of Council’s 51 members
on Jan. 9 voted to pass Bushwick Councilman
Raphael Espinal’s signage bill .
The legislation — which still must be
signed by Mayor DeBlasio — would
prevent Department of Buildings bigwigs
from issuing signage violations
for two years, and waive outstanding
fi nes for violations dating back to Dec.
28, 2017.
It would also slash permit fees by 25
percent for entrepreneurs who already
paid sign fi nes to the city, but still need
to purchase a mandatory permit required
to hang any new signs larger
than six square feet.
The bill’s passage followed a more
than 100-percent spike in anonymous
311 complaints about the size and legality
of storefronts’ signs last year
— the majority of which tipsters fi led
against Kings County mom-and-pop
shops, which netted some 1,040 of the
total 1,900 complaints, according to
Buildings Department rep Andrew
Rudansky.
Business owners in Colton’s district
— which includes Bensonhurst,
Bath Beach, Gravesend, and Mapleton
— were particularly hard hit, receiving
127 complaints last year, compared
with only 14 in 2017.
And the city’s Offi ce of Administrative
Trials and Hearings slapped some
of those entrepreneurs with fi nancial
penalties as high as $15,000 because of
the complaints — fi nes that many store
owners called disastrous for their bottom
lines.
The fi nes are issued to property
owners, not business owners who rent
Continued on page 12
Melvin R. Krimko, P.C.
Real Estate Attorney
Landlord/Tenant Commercial Leases
Residential/Commercial Holdovers
Evictions & Non Payments
Prompt | Experienced | Reasonable
Downtown Brooklyn near Atlantic Center & The Barclay Arena
Convenient By Train, Bus & LIRR
Classifieds call (718) 260—2555
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