Marilyn Louie (Daniel Shapiro)
CLOSE CALL: Marilyn Louie is set to lose her stand after 35 years because it just misses the reuired 9.5-foot distance from buildings. (
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City authorities are inching toward absurdity.
Transportation officials want to knock down a Chinatown newsstand that’s been in the same spot for 35 years — after suddenly discovering that it’s a precious 3 inches too close to the building it faces.
“They came and measured, and the [Department of Transportation] said the newsstand is 3 inches too short for a clear path,” said Marilyn Louie, who has operated the newsstand at 18 Bowery for decades.
“This is the only job I’ve had. I’ve supported my kids with this. This is my only living, I don’t think it is fair for just a few inches,” she said.
Louie said her clash with city bureaucrats started when officials began measuring to replace her old-school green newsstand with a more-modern-looking, silver shack operated by the contractor Cemusa.
The city is converting all 330 newsstands to the sleeker Cemusa ones, despite complaints that the new stands are prone to leaks and break-ins.
When Louie’s location problem was noticed, both the DOT and Department of Consumer Affairs told her she had to move.
But Louie said other locations that the city proposed either lack foot traffic or are already saturated with convenience stores selling the same papers, Lotto and candy.
Business is tough already, she said. Most newsstand operators keep between 5 to 6 cents for each newspaper sold and 6 cents per Lotto ticket, she said. Unlike other newsstands operators, Louie said, she does not sell cigarettes. Her yearly income rarely tops $40,000, she said.
Plus, Louie said, many local senior citizens have come to rely on her to help them with such necessities as reading their bills, Social Security notifications and other important documents.
She inherited the stand in 1982 after her father, a disabled World War II vet, passed away.
Louie, who works seven days a week at her stand, has until Feb. 29 to find another spot.
DOT spokeswoman Nicole Garcia, quoting the city’s Administrative Code, said, “The current site does not meet the siting criteria specified by law. The shelter’s current clear path is 3 inches less than the required distance [9 1/2 feet], and the stand is 4 inches too close to the curb.”