Deer Park adult store Teasers loses bid to reopen

Shuttered Deer Park adult store Teasers has lost a legal bid to reopen while its lawsuit against the Town of Babylon proceeds.

The July 28 decision from U.S. District Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein came as the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals released a decision denying several Teasers requests for variances from town code regulating adult businesses.

The town condemned the 55 Brook Ave. store in April, citing a missing certificate of occupancy and fire safety violations that the store’s lawyers said could be easily remedied. Town officials said the store had a certificate of occupancy to operate as an adult bookstore when it opened in 1999 but later improperly expanded its operations to include services such as peep shows.

The town also argued that the store violated a portion of its code that says adult businesses must be located at least 1,000 feet from homes.

Teasers owner Benjamin Waters said last month that the town was engaging in a campaign of harassment against him.

But Feuerstein rejected arguments from his lawyers that the town had agreed to issue the crucial certificate of occupancy in a 1999 letter from officials to the business, and that the business had, in fact, been operating legally since certain changes to New York State building code in 2002.