Thursday, November 13, 2008

Fine Mess - News - News - Pittsburgh City Paper - Pittsburgh

Open up a business in Pittsburgh and have to deal with this treatment. Then the business closes. Go figure.
Fine Mess - News - News - Pittsburgh City Paper - Pittsburgh: "In 2005, Milton Barr used lots of green paint to cover the exterior of 1020 East Carson St. with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mural. But he may need a lot more green -- about $200,000 more -- to erase the fines he incurred by doing so.
Barr, 21, closed his South Side arcade and video-rental store, MIB Ninja Entertainment, in August. The lime-green Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mural has since been covered with dark-red and brown paint. But although the mural is out of sight, it's still very much in the city's mind."
We used to shop there. We miss them. But, we don't miss them worth $200,000.

If South Siders have been complaining for years about the mural, whey is this the first I heard of the complaint? Was there ever an informational picket? Was there ever a letter to the editor? Perhaps there was and I just missed it -- stuck in my turtle shell.

And it isn't only the video store that is gone. MDI, the computer consultants that have been business people for the past decade or more are gone too. I noticed that the business was vacant a few weeks ago and it caused me to wonder. Now the answer is out, it seems.

By the way, our house in the South Side is just outside of the historic district. Perhaps he would like to buy the outside of my house for $200,000. Let's negotiate.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

John K: Yah you did miss this story. The print and TV news ran stories on this over a year ago. Copyright infringement and all.

Mark Rauterkus said...

I knew of the copyright case. I didn't know of the neighborhood outrage.

Where was that, exactly?

Anonymous said...

City paper covered the copyright case a year ago as well, however, this is the first reporting done by anyone on the $200K fine....

Anonymous said...

Wow - I suprised that Bruce Kraus and Rick Belloli didn't have a paint the building party.

I guess it was on Kraus's list?

OR that police resources were used enforce zoning laws.

Anyway, another empty store front. Who wants to open a business when these clowns are giving hard working individuals trouble no matter what.