November 30–December 7, 1995

pretzel logic

Boxed Out

Will the Teal Fiefdom lord it over newspaper boxes?

By Howard Altman

If you're reading this column, chances are you picked up City Paper from one of the hundreds of honor boxes standing on corners throughout the city and beyond.

First, let me thank you for taking the time to reach in and pull out a paper.

Secondly, let me warn you that if the Center City District (CCD) gets its way, your access to those boxes will be reduced. Either through a limit on their number, a ghettoization of all newspaper honor boxes, the implementation of color codes or the mingling of all newspapers into one group box, as is done at the airport.

Paul Levy, head of the CCD, says he has design teams looking into what to do about the boxes. Those teams are looking into what other cities are doing, which includes some of the above-mentioned restrictions.

All, he insists, with an eye toward the concerns of newspapers, some whose future may be jeopardized if honor boxes are restricted.

Now, some folk might think this is a good idea.

After all, according to Levy, whose group wants to turn Center City into a fantasy land on the order of downtown Oz, there are 773 different honor boxes, representing 29 different publications, in the area between 6th and 20th, Spruce and Race.

Some block handicap ramps, says Levy. Some impede pedestrian traffic, or worse, make it unsafe.

One intersection, 16th and JFK, has a combined 23 boxes, nearly six per corner.

How does he know this?

He had people count the boxes.

Why?

"Because every single time we are out presenting our Streetscape Improvement Plan [SIP], honor boxes come up," says Levy. "...As part of the [SIP] we are going to implement a plan, one solution to the group of boxes on the street."

And therein lies the rub.

The Center City District, best known for its army of Ubiquitous Teal Rangers who roam the streets tidying up and watching out for wrongdoers, is actually far less benign.

In fact, it is the Teal Fiefdom, answerable only to property owners.

The concept behind SIP, a $36 million project to spruce up the 110 blocks that make up the Teal Fiefdom, was approved not by voters or even by City Council.

Just because the streets are public, and the project includes $15 million in city, state and federal tax dollars to rebuild Chestnut Street from 6th to 20th, doesn't give you the right to have a say in what's going on here.

Like, for instance, whether there should be limits imposed on honor boxes owned by us, the Inky, the Daily News, the Weekly or the 25 other publications that rely on the boxes to survive.

Only 2,108 people lucky enough to own property in Center City got to vote on SIP. That's because in 1994, Center City property owners got a chance to either kill or maintain the Teal Fiefdom. A vote to keep the Teal Fiefdom was a vote in favor of SIP.

According to Levy, 2,082 Center City property owners voted to maintain the Teal Fiefdom. Only 26 objected.

For its part, the Teal Fiefdom was able to float a $21 million tax-exempt bond issue to pay for design and construction of the project. That comes out to $10,086.45 per yea vote.

"If you are not a property owner, you can't vote on it. That was the way the law was written," says Levy. The rationale? Well, the property owners pay "assessments" to the Teal Fiefdom, so why the hell should anyone else have a say in the way the place will ultimately look?

Oh, and another thing.

Don't go asking the Teal Fiefdom for too much information about where they get their money or what they do with it.

Because, in essence, they'll tell you to go to hell.

When we asked, they refused to cooperate, claiming they were a private organization exempt from the state's Right To Know Act, which requires municipal authorities to keep open records. That despite state legislation passed in 1990 and approved by City Council which declares that CCD is a municipal authority. That despite performing essential services like street cleaning and public safety.

Now, I'm not saying the Teal Fiefdom is an Evil Empire.

Street cleaning and public safety are good.

But secrecy in a democracy is not.

And no matter what Levy says, the Teal Fiefdom is ultimately part of a democracy, not some playtoy of the landed gentry.

As for the issue of honor boxes, Levy's ideas might turn out to be the least onerous.

Because, thanks to the Supreme Court, municipal authorities can do what they want with honor boxes.

Just ask Alfredo Duran, publisher of Exito, a 34-year-old, 80,000-circulation Spanish language entertainment weekly in Coral Gables, Florida.

The city of Coral Gables wanted to force Exito, along with every other publication, to paint its boxes brown and beige.

Such a move would seriously hurt business, says Duran, because Exito relies on its purple and green boxes to stand out from the rest and attract readers.

"Because we are a weekly, we need to scream louder than the rest," says Duran, echoing an argument made by publications across the land, including City Paper and the Weekly. "We have to make our presence felt and attract readers that might not ordinary gravitate toward us because we are not a daily."

Duran was forced to sue the city of Coral Gables and the case made its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which last year ruled on behalf of Coral Gables. It was a landmark decision and a great defeat for newspapers.

Duran says he is close to working out a compromise with Coral Gables. He is asking to be allowed the right to at least use a green and purple stripe on the beige and brown uniform boxes.

In effect, Duran is throwing himself on the mercy of city officials now that the Supremes have ruled against him. What happens if they show no mercy?

"We could experience a loss of circulation and that could be a problem," he says. "A loss of circulation would effect advertising."

And that could mean the end of Exito.

The same is true for City Paper.

Which is forced to either accept Levy's law or face an even worse fate.

Which puts us, I guess, between a box and a hard place.