14 DAY TRIAL // "Since the Apple SoHo store moved in six years ago, it has become the worst neighbor in SoHo," wrote SoHo Alliance director Sean Sweeney in the letter addressed to city and state elected officials and Apple Inc.'s management. Seemingly, the last straw was a Jonas Brothers concert at the SoHo store earlier this month, which attracted "thousands of young teenage girls who screamed incessantly on the street for hours for their idols".
Apple's SoHo Retail Store is best known for the shows and concerts it hosts. Concerts, as you will agree, tend to be quite noisy, especially when the fans are enjoying themselves. "This concert attracted thousands of young teenage girls who screamed incessantly on the street for hours for their idols, blocking traffic, injuring one resident in the crush, and inconveniencing scores of other people and businesses," he wrote in the letter.
The problem with the SoHo store, however, is its placement. Besides the noise, Apple employees also pose a problem for the neighborhood, as they eat, smoke and litter on neighbors' stoops. "No bar, nightclub or construction site comes close to ruining continually our quality-of-life like Apple SoHo has," Sweeney wrote, according to CNNMoney.
"Irresponsible corporate behavior" also included "illegal nighttime construction," and "flood lights on the roof often kept on all night, glaring into people's homes", according to the letter addressed to city and state officials, as well as Apple Inc.'s management. Even the air-conditioning system of the SoHo store is noisy, the complaint reveals.
The most irritating things about Apple's SoHo store, in Sweeney's opinion, are,
- "Crowds for Apple SoHo on a regular basis that necessitate police barricades, adding to pedestrian crowding, preventing access to high-end businesses on Greene Street and subsequent diminution of income, as well as restricting residents access to their homes".
- "Subsequent litter left by these crowds, who often number in the hundreds, and who line up and even camp out overnight on public sidewalks, giving SoHo the appearance of a homeless encampment".
- "Apple employees during their breaks lounging, eating, smoking, littering - in effect, trespassing - on nearby people's stoops".
Sweeney concluded that "residents and businesses of SoHo desperately need your help regarding constant problems we have with Apple SoHo".