Billboard protests planned in Great Neck and Queens

By Michael Orbach

Issue of Dec. 12, 2008 / 15 Kislev 5769

The pressure is on against a gentleman's club on Rockaway Turnpike with a billboard that leaves little to the imagination about the nature of the club's business.

Nassau Legislator Jeff Toback planned to demonstrate with copies of the offending billboard at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11, at 350 Northern Blvd in Great Neck, in front of the corporation that owns the club’s building. "He [the owner] told me there was nothing wrong with the signs so I suppose he won't mind us bringing the signs to his business in Great Neck and letting his customers see what he thinks is acceptable," Toback said.

Toback also said that the owner claimed he didn't have the authority to regulate the sign. As a real estate attorney for over 20 years, Toback said, he finds that hard to believe.

Toback and Queens Councilman James Sanders also planned a demonstration Thursday night outside the club itself. Sanders said the protest at 9:00 p.m. outside the Platinum Club at 248-58 Rockaway Boulevard, is "only the beginning of the war against open pornography." The point is to send a "clear message" to the club's owners that the billboard isn't welcome in the community.