Today’s Republican profiles Capital Video and its owner, Kenneth Guarino.
“Guarino, the chief executive of Capital Video Corp., has done well enough in the pornography business to buy a Beverly Hills mansion. In fact, pornography has been so lucrative for him that he had to pay ‘tribute’ money to keep the mob from muscling in, according to prosecutors….”
“By all accounts, Guarino has managed to carve out a major role for himself in the pornography industry. The Providence Journal-Bulletin describes him as the head of a global ‘multi-million dollar erotic empire.'”
The article describes how Capital Video already has a foothold in the Pioneer Valley at 486 Bridge Street in Springfield.
“In 2002, the Springfield City Council rejected a special permit request by Video Expo [owned by Capital Video] to allow it to expand the store. Residents of the Apermont Triangle area had argued that letting the store expand would be a setback for the neighborhood….”
“Adam Cohen and Jendi Reiter, a Northampton couple operating as the group NoPornNorthampton, have been campaigning relentlessly to keep Guarino and his store out of the city….
“NoPornNorthampton recently posted an open letter on the Internet to Barry G. Goldberg, who owns the King Street building, decrying his decision to lease the space to Capital.
“‘The law may permit you to rent to Capital Video Corporation, but landlords also have a duty to the community to use good judgment,’ the letter stated. ‘We urge you to terminate your relationship with Capital Video and find a more suitable tenant for your King Street property.’
“Goldberg did not return repeated calls for this story.”
Read the full profile.
Also in today’s Republican, Kelsey Flynn reports on various sides of the public debate.
“More porn versus no porn, good porn versus bad porn, as the debate on the proposed porn shop at 135 King Street moves into its third month, more voices are joining in. First to contribute an opinion on Your Stories Northampton was the local non-profit community-based group NoPornNorthampton. Over the ensuing weeks, co-organizers Adam Cohen and Jendi Reiter have made good use of the citizen journalism site, posting updates, open letters, and petitions to change the zoning laws to prevent the Capitol Video Corporation from moving in an adult book and video store.”
Read Kelsey Flynn’s article.