Mayor Shutters “Deplorable” Viewing Booths
SPRINGFIELD, MA — Citing “deplorable conditions,” rampant lewdness, and crime within 16 viewing booths at an adult store, Springfield MA Mayor Charles V. Ryan revoked the store’s entertainment license and ordered the booths closed.Issued more than a year after the city’s Health and Human Services Department and police investigations discovered “dirty video booths, holes in walls between booths, inappropriate contact between individuals in booths and various health-code violations,” the mayoral edict allows Amazing.net to continue selling books, magazines, videos and sex toys, according to a report at MassLive.com.
The store is owned by Rhode Island-based Capital Video Corp., which can apply for a 2008 entertainment license despite the booth closure. Entertainment licenses are issued annually and run from January 1st through December 31st.