Metro

PA threatens retailer over skyline dishes sold at 9/11 Museum

For the Port Authority, it’s do as they say — not as they do.

The agency sent a stern cease-and-desist letter to Fishs Eddy demanding that the Manhattan housewares store stop selling its popular “212 New York Skyline” dinnerware because the company is “unfairly reaping a benefit from an association with the Port Authority and the [9/11] attacks.”

But the same Fishs Eddy china is sold at the 9/11 Museum gift store, which peddles many goods with Twin Tower images to raise operating funds. The Port Authority owns the 16-acre site that houses the museum.

“There must be some kind of disconnect,” said Fishs Eddy spokeswoman Julie Gaines. “Maybe the Port Authority didn’t do its homework before they fired off that letter.”

Fishs Eddy launched the collection in 1986. Plates are rimmed with a drawing of the skyline including the Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal and the Brooklyn Bridge.

“It’s our number-one pattern,” said Gaines, who added that 9/11 only made it more popular. “On 9/12, there was a line to get in the store. Everyone wanted a piece of New York City.”

But in a letter dated July 24, PA lawyer Veronica Rodriquez accuses Fishs Eddy of selling items “bearing unauthorized reproductions and names of exclusive assets” of the Port Authority.

The depiction of the Twin Towers is a particular point of contention for Port Authority.Zandy Mangold

The letter was ridiculed on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver, who quipped that the Port Authority’s reputation is as “terrible” as its Midtown bus terminal.

The letter demands that Fishs Eddy “destroy” all wares with images of the Twin Towers, as well as its “Bridge and Tunnel” collection.

“Fishs Eddy has no plans to cease or desist or otherwise stop selling its products,” lawyer Jason Nardiello replied. “These images belong to the American psyche — not the Port Authority.”

The museum marks up the prices. For example, Fishs Eddy retails the cereal bowl for $10.95, while the 9/11 gift-shop price is $14. The $22.95 pasta bowl sells for $29 in the 9/11 shop. The $14.95 salt-and-pepper pair goes for $23.

PA spokeswoman Erica Dumas refused to comment on sales at the 9/11 gift shop but said of Fishs Eddy: “They should stop selling it, period.”

A 9/11 Museum spokesman declined to comment.