A federal court ruled N.Y.C. officials acted lawfully in rejectin...
A federal court ruled N.Y.C. officials acted lawfully in rejecting a Global Network Communications application to install its payphones on city streets. The U.S. Dist. Court, N.Y.C., said the city was within its bounds when it rejected Global’s application…
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on grounds that it raised major questions about whether Global would pay the compensation it would owe to the city. The city said Global’s owner, Ronald Massie, has an extensive criminal record, including allegations of ties to organized crime, and the company has a record of not paying compensation owed to property owners who let Global install payphones in their establishments. “Inherently, the city’s right to require compensation from telecommunications providers includes the reasonable expectation that its compensation will be paid accurately in full, on time, and without criminal involvement or fraud,” the court said. Nothing in state or federal law, the court said, forces a city to grant a payphone franchise when there is compelling evidence in the record that it could have serious problems collecting its compensation from the provider.