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Community Corner

F+S Tire Shop Back in Business, For Now

A final hearing is scheduled for July 11

F+S Tire Shop is back in business... for now.

At a Department of Buildings hearing Monday morning, city officials gave Fequiere Joseph, the owner of the 26-year-old tire shop at 781 Fulton St., a reprieve until a final hearing on July 11.

The business still must stay within compliance of the zoning regulations that allow for a maximum of 100 tires, according to the DOB.

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“The only violation at this point is the structure of the building, which is in no way related to the vacate order that had to do with the fire code,” said Fritz Jean, attorney for Joseph and F+S Tire shop.

Joseph said that over the course of six months from November 2010 to this April, the Fire Department visited the shop numerous times. Over the course of several visits, they told him to reduce the number of tires in the shop from 1,500 to less than 100, and was also told to get a “tire vendor license" — though no one told him how and where to obtain one, according to Joseph.

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On March 31, the FDNY gave him an oral restriction to a dozen tires within the building. Later that day, Joseph said the FDNY informed him he was operating outside of the zoning regulations, and gave him two hours to shut down the business.

It was confirmed at the hearing that the violation in relation to the fire code had been withdrawn and was no longer on record.

“You can’t run a tire shop with 12 tires,” said Joseph. "When they asked to go down to 600 tires the first time, that left us with half the space completely empty.”

In addition to the vacate order, Joseph was fined over $24,000 as a result of FDNY and DOB reports citing garbage in the basement, improper support beams on the bottom floor and the lack of a sprinkler system.

Joseph said that an architect and engineer have been hired to bring the site into compliance.

The initial closure of F+S Tire Shop sparked outrage among local residents and leaders. Phillip Kellogg, manager of the Fulton Area Business Alliance, , while Councilwoman Letitia James, D-Brooklyn, also

In addition, which circulated to save the shop received more than 5,000 signatures combined.

“The neighborhood really stepped up in trying to help us out,” said Joseph." “Obviously, the DOB don’t want us here, but the petitions showed that a lot of the people in the community still want us to stay.”

Joseph said he is hoping to reopen the shop by this weekend. 

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