Cell tower war off the hook

By Matthew Lysiak
The Brooklyn Paper

It’s getting ugly on 81st Street, where tenants of an apartment building — furious over the installation of cellphone equipment on their roof — confronted workers and nearly came to blows with their landlord’s relative after construction crews began installing more phone machinery.

The trouble began several years ago, when the owner of 301 81st St., Gus Sideratos, installed several antennas atop the building.

Then, last Friday, residents of the radio active complex awoke to find their street blocked off for the second time in two weeks so a crane could hoist even more equipment to the roof.

Residents of the block swarmed around the workers, prompting a relative of Sideratos to get into “a really heated and nasty argument with a resident senior citizen” outside of the complex, said one witness.

“There was yelling and cursing and even threatening as the young man accused the senior of starting all the protests and making the petitions,” said one source who lives within the building and requested anonymity out of fear of landlord retribution.

The confrontation didn’t sit well with other tenants and neighbors, who are already at a breaking point over the lack of community say over the installation of equipment they believe to be unhealthy.

“There are obviously multiple issues here, including reported intimidation by the landlord and his cronies, traffic disruptions, and a lack of leadership by local officials,” said Joe Jordan. “Let’s not forget about the possibility of adverse health issues related to the non-stop and involuntary bombardment of these telecom signals.”

Tenants filed complaints with the Department of Building against Sideratos for “storing heavy equipment on top of roof,” but the complaints were dismissed after an inspection.

A call from The Brooklyn Paper to Sideratos’s office was not returned by deadline.

But Sideratos is not alone. The conversion of rooftops into beacons for cellphone bars has become a growing trend all over Brooklyn. Companies pay building owners big bucks in exchange for a little rooftop space — and most residents enjoy the full bars on their phone and the flush cash in their building’s general fund.

But there is so much cellular equipment all over the neighborhood — and virtually no advance warning about its placement — that residents are revolting.

Last year, parents of St. Anselm’s School fought the installation of a Sprint/Nextel tower atop a nearby building. As on 81st Street, school parents didn’t know that the tower was coming until a crane showed up late one night.

Parents were able to garner enough negative publicity — and political support — to force Sprint to change plans.

Councilman Vince Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) is again in the fray, backing the 81st Street residents.

Gentile wants governments to have a say in the placement and number of cellphone towers in their communities.

“The situation on 81st Street is a perfect example of why Congress should amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and give the people who know what’s best for their local communities the ability to regulate cell phone towers,” Gentile said.

The councilman also called for a study of health issues related to cellular equipment. Though there is little data to support the claim that cellphone radiation is harmful, most residents are afraid.

“I have heard that these towers can cause cancer, and that is what a lot of people are concerned about,” said Ernie Homsey, a resident of the 81st Street building since 1945. “How can they do this when their have been no long-term studies to assure us they aren’t harmful?”

Reps for cell phone companies have insisted that the signals are harmless, and assert that not one reputable study has shown adverse health effects. But that didn’t fully satisfy Homsey.

“When you have people who feel their family’s health is being jeopardized and no one will listen, they begin to feel desperate,” he said.