European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 6, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine tit if basketball Hare outlawed can flagpoles be far behind by Michael Winerip new York times if you were Young once and fell in love with basketball you know the Joy of the sport is that you can play it  need a buddy to toss a football you need a dozen for a decent baseball game but with basketball you can spend hours alone working on your shot making yourself better for the Day when the others come around. A year ago Mike Epter of Garden City n.y., fell in love with basketball. He is 14, 6 feel tall and a Little shy. When someone said he might be All county some Day if he worked hard it stuck with Mike. Now he practices alone in his driveway for hours at a stretch. He goes to basketball Camp he subscribes to basketball digest he has rented hoosiers from the video store four times. It s a Good movie said Mike. In his driveway is a Beautiful free standing basketball hoop that was put in six years ago when the House was built. Homes in the neighbourhood go for up to $1.5 million and people do things right. The hoop is set in Concrete 40 feet from the Street. It s the kind of hoop a boy from the South Bronx would die for. So it s easy to imagine Mike s Surprise last month when the enters and dozens of others received notices telling them that their baskets Are a violation of Garden City zoning Law 200-52. Non compliance is punishable by a $250-a-Day Fine. Could they make us take it Down Mike asked his mom. They could. The enters decided to fight. Mike s Mother Helen a retired mortgage banker wrote a letter to the local paper that basically said kids Are taking drugs left and right and Village officials Are telling me to tear Down my hoop Don t these idiots have anything better to do with their time the enters started a petition. At first Mike was embarrassed to ask strangers but the response has been so great that he is now going out every Day and has 500 names. After attending mass he got two pages of signatures from churchgoers. At grand Union he got 31 in 28 minutes. Excuse me a am he said. We re running a petition to keep basketball poles up in Garden City. The Village says they look  give me that said Dolores Gallo. Garden City is full of silly  the zoning Law actually says nothing about basketball poles. However a Section written in 1924 prohibits accessory structures in the front half of a lot where most driveways and baskets Are situated. Michael filippon the building director who initiated the basketball crackdown said there have been scattered complaints for years. He also got a letter from a Jim Jenks recently citing 12 illegal poles. So the department did its own Survey. We wanted to see How widespread this problem was said filippon. It was pretty rampant 75 illegal hoops. It is not easy for Garden City people to keep track of everything they Are supposed to do. Back in 1924, the zoning Law was a single Page but that was before everything got codified to the Max. Today it s a Book with rules like 200 53 d in h and p districts the height limitations shall be those set Forth in the schedule of regulations which is a part of article v  right and so it s easy to see How even the mayor Peter Gall had an illegal hoop for a decade. I was t aware of the Rule he said. The building director Points out that Garden City does allow you to attach a backboard to the garage. Our garage is too Low said Mike. Ted Kakoyiannis another Young Man harbouring an illegal pole said he used to have one on his garage. We had to replace the shingles twice Ted said. Plus on a garage said Mike you can t take Corner  asked Why he had t put his on the garage the mayor said ours is too  Mike is very Bright second in his class. He has studied the zoning Book this summer. What about Light posts in front Yards he said. In t that an accessory use asked about this filippon said i Don t see lighting As a use per  Mike noticed the Law says that any flagpole in a front Yard should not be tall enough to reach the Street curb if it Falls Down. Yet right around the Corner Are flagpoles that Are clearly too tall. Look said filippon ill admit to you right now there Are dozens and dozens of violations in this Village. We Don t have the  he says you have to handle one mess at a time. We re now in what i d Call phase one he said. Faced with pro hoop residents the trustees Are now reviewing the policy. Filippon worries that if hoops Are allowed everyone will want exceptions. He fears the Slippery slope. Lately he has noticed Small decorative Walls popping up at the foot of driveways. A violation he said. I Don t know maybe Well have to make a Survey of those  saturday augusts 1988 the stars and stripes Page 13