City Moves To Padlock Blind Mans Business

Mike Sidell has long depended upon the newsstand he owns and operates in the Queens County Family Courthouse as the source of his livelihood and, to some extent, his dignity. As a man who is legally blind, Sidell, 59, has had to struggle his whole life to demonstrate that instead of charity, he needs only be allowed the opportunity to support himself and his family. But after conquering many adversities, personal and public, to open his own business, Sidell has come up against his most formidable opponent yet: The City of New York. After 12 years in the same location, on June 24, the Division of Real Estate Services (RES), the branch of the City government that oversees the management and leasing of its properties, served Sidell with a 30-day notice requiring that he surrender his store and vacate the Courthouse by July 31.
Warner Johnston, a spokesman for the RES, said that the reason the City is withdrawing Sidells lease is that it intends to renovate the lobby of the building as part of its preparations to move the existing Family Court from 89-14 Parsons Blvd. in Jamaica a few blocks away to 152-01 Jamaica Ave. When the Court makes the move, projected for October, the Queens Public Library will take over the current facility.
The City has no intention of offering Sidell a place to vend in the new location, said Johnston, and has no current plans of allowing concessions of any kind to operate within the Jamaica Ave. courthouse.
Sidell described news of the eviction as "calamitous."
"The City has said Im on my own and there is no grandfathering for me or my business to service the same population of 1,700 people per day who come through the metal detectors," he said.
Losing "My SnakBar," Sidells informal name for his five-day-a-week coffee, sandwich, and newspaper shop, would constitute "a total loss of income" for the proprietor, who suffers from the severe visual impairment nystagmus as a result of being improperly delivered with forceps. "If Im not here Im not making money," explained Sidell.
Mayor of Kew Gardens Hills
Without the resources to open his business elsewhere, Sidells only hope to sustain himself lies in the extensive work that he has done as a volunteer since the age of 19. Known informally to many of his neighbors as the "Mayor of Kew Gardens Hills," Sidell has achieved a borough-wide reputation as a community leader and activist. He is vice president of the Central Queens Historical Assoc., a member of Community Board 8, chairman of the John F. Kennedy Regular Democratic Club, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Queens Independent Living Center an organization that helps disabled persons find housing, assists them in acquiring social benefits, and acclimates them to functioning and achieving success in the mainstream. "Hopefully a politician or the private sector will pick me up as a constituent advocate," said Sidell.
But the longtime advocate knows that he may be on his own.
Sidell vows to battle the Citys move to evict him at the end of the month. He does not intend to take legal action against the City. His resistance instead is a self-described effort to "raise awareness" for his plight. He is pessimistic about his chances for success.
He believes the ouster is particularly unnecessary because the other Courthouse is still being refurbished and the rest of the Parsons Blvd. facility is not yet under renovation.
His current struggle is not the first time Sidell a widower for 18 years who raised two children on his own has had to fight to preserve his livelihood. In 1994, the State Commission for the Blind tried to take over his newsstand under the federal Randolph-Sheppard Act, which authorizes the government to offer special vending opportunities for the blind under its supervision. Not wishing for the business he started himself to be co-opted by the State, Sidell took the State to court, eventually winning on appeal in 1999 the right to maintain full control of his stand independently, and lease it directly from the City as opposed to going through an intermediary agency.
It is because Sidell is a tenant of the City that the RES has a right to evict him at its discretion, said Johnston. "DCAS [The Department of Citywide Administrative Services RESs umbrella organization] was generous enough to allow Mr. Sidell to remain in the space as a direct month-to-month leasee with the understanding that he would vacate the space when the building was closed." The spokesman added, "Weve had some issues with Mr. Sidell in the past, specifying late rent payments" a fact that he does not dispute.
End of an Era
While the City tries to expedite Sidells eviction, regular customers at Sidells shop, like attorney Alan Cabelly, expressed sadness upon hearing the news of his imminent departure. "Mike has been an institution here for years," said Cabelly. "It would be a real injustice if he were to lose this establishment and his livelihood."
Sidell, too, believes the Citys actions to be unjust. The business that he toiled to build will be supplanted by vending machines when the new Courthouse opens, he believes. "The system that I volunteer for is putting me out of business, stopping my income. A visually dependent person has become independent and they are trying to make me disabled again."