Edition: U.S. / Global

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: TRIBECA; Sunset View Is Blocked, So Cafe Is, Too

Published: September 10, 1995

When Andrea Reich moved into her TriBeCa loft 14 years ago, she enjoyed fiery sunsets over the Hudson from her fourth-floor window.

But for the last three years, Ms. Reich, a 49-year-old furniture designer, has had to watch the sun dip behind a five-story billboard. At night, the glow of its lamps casts a ghostly pall on her walls. "My million-dollar view has become an eyesore," Ms. Reich said, frustrated that the billboard remains even though the city says it violates zoning regulations, and even though like-minded neighbors and Councilwoman Kathryn Freed have lobbied against it.

But now, it seems, the opponents have found a weapon. The sign's owner, the Ponte family, wants to open a sidewalk cafe at a restaurant it owns, Filli Ponte, a block away. And Ms. Freed has the power to block the necessary permit.

"Mr. Ponte is a smooth operator," said Ms. Freed, referring to Angelo Ponte, a principal in Ponte Equities, the sign's owner. "He has done nothing but flout city laws. If he wants to antagonize the community, then we'll antagonize him."

Mr. Ponte is also a principal in V. Ponte & Sons, the city's largest trash hauler and one of several companies indicted in June on charges of maintaining the Mafia stranglehold on the city's hauling business. He could not be reached for comment. But Charles Carreras, a lawyer for the restaurant, said: "Councilmember Freed is holding our cafe hostage. Doesn't she realize this business is an asset to the community?"

Even though Filli Ponte has received the necessary approvals from the Department of Transportation, Ms. Freed is exercising her right to block the permit in the City Council. During a hearing on Tuesday, she moved to kill the outdoor cafe unless the Pontes take down their billboard.

The city has had no luck in uprooting the sign, which rises on a Watt Street parking lot (also owned by the Pontes) next to the West Side Highway. Billboards are prohibited within 200 feet of a state roadway.

The saga began in 1993, when the city's Department of Buildings mistakenly issued a permit that allowed Ponte Equities to erect the billboard for Filli Ponte. Advertising revenue from the sign, one city official said, makes the Pontes at least $50,000 a year. The Ponte family, which owns much of TriBeCa's waterfront property, has ignored repeated summonses to remove the sign.

In the latest twist, the Pontes are denying responsibility for the billboard. And last week, parts of the sign were painted over by a man in a cherry picker, residents said.

Joseph A. Foglia, general counsel for Ponte Equities, said that Gaess Outdoor Advertising, of Montvale, N.J., controls the sign. "We have no authority to take it down," he said.

Ms. Freed disagrees. "As one of the neighborhood's largest landlords, Mr. Ponte could be an asset," she said. "Instead, he's a thorn in our side. Why doesn't he just give the neighborhood a break and let us have our view back?" ANDREW JACOBS

Photo: It's big, it's bold, and it's in the way: the five-story billboard. (Dith Pran/The New York Times)