Author’s note: When Mt. Lebanon Magazine asked if I’d write some history stories, I immediately thought of the porn warehouse that briefly occupied a former grocery store (currently the U.S. Post Office) on Castle Shannon Boulevard. I was in grade school back then, so all I had was the hazy memory of a classmate bragging about how he had retrieved X-rated magazines and films from dumpsters behind the building after the warehouse closed.

I needed details, so I started asking around only to receive blank stares. I grew up in Sunset Hills, but even my mother had no recollection of the events. I reached out to my brother’s friend, Joe Berkowitz, who grew up on Crystal Drive and was a high school junior at the time, thinking surely a teenage boy would have known about a porn warehouse .3 miles down the road from his house. But Joe had no memory of it… and neither did his younger sister or brother. And, come to think of it, I’d never heard anything about it during my six-year tenure as president of the Historical Society of Mount Lebanon. Had I imagined the entire thing?

But a search of “mt. lebanon” + “porn” on Newspapers.com proved my memories were not a lingering dream. Even better, the story proved a lot more byzantine than I imagined.

In 1979, Reuben “The Porn King” Sturman snuck into Mt. Lebanon and, when told he was not welcome, stubbornly refused to leave. And why would he? The “Howard Hughes of Porn” certainly was not going to be cowed by a bunch of suburbanites. After all, he had fearlessly faced off against the FBI, circumvented racketeering charges, and, by hiring the best First Amendment lawyers, had dodged numerous obscenity charges. With his reputed ties to the Gambino crime family, nothing was going to stop him from expanding his vast smut empire.

But Sturman had never encountered anything so terrifying, so unrelenting, so resolute as a bunch of outraged Mt. Lebanon residents.

January 1979: President Carter was beginning his junior year in office; disco was inescapable on FM radio stations; The Deer Hunter was about to sweep the 51st annual Academy Awards; Dallas, in its second season, was rising in the Nielsen ratings; and the Pittsburgh Steelers edged the Dallas Cowboys 35-31 in Super Bowl XIII. On a purely local — and seemingly much less newsworthy — level, Majestic News Co. (MNC) signed a $1,500-a-month, 10-year lease for a former grocery store at 370 Castle Shannon Boulevard. That lease was the first gust of wind in what was to become a tornado.

The gust became a gale on Valentine’s Day, 1979, when many Mt. Lebanonites surely did a spit-take of  their morning coffee upon seeing the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette front-page headline: “Porn Wares Move to Mt. Lebanon.”

The thrust of the article was that Reuben Sturman — the United States’ biggest distributor of pornographic magazines, books, movies, and other paraphernalia — had relocated his North Side warehouse to Mt. Lebanon without first filing the proper paperwork. Municipal officials were now poised to take MNC to court.

How did this happen?

Freeman, Foltz, and Valicenti, the real estate company that arranged the lease, and Eugene Gottesman, the Realtor who brokered the deal, claimed they had no knowledge of what MNC did besides distribute magazines. Eileen Jacobs, who at the time was a Mt. Lebanon school teacher living at 395 Castle Shannon Boulevard — directly across from the building — says she and her neighbors were equally clueless until the newspaper hit their doormats. “We came and went from the alley behind our house,” she says, adding that with no front porch or parking on Castle Shannon Boulevard they rarely used their front yard and certainly never noticed the smut-filled vans and trucks pulling into and out of the building’s basement entrance. “The loading dock was in the building’s rear,” she says. “It wasn’t visible from my house.”

In that initial Post-Gazette article, writer Joyce Gemperlein, who would go on to pen the majority of subsequent articles about the warehouse, reported Sturman/MNC had signed a rental agreement months earlier with Mt. Lebanon Medical Center, Inc., a corporation owned by Virginia Manor resident William Bartram, a pediatric dentist, and had begun quietly moving supplies into the building. But while the neighbors may not have noticed, Mt. Lebanon firefighters did, and informed Public Works Director James Harrod, who immediately sent a letter to the corporation stating that the building could not be occupied until building plans were submitted. The letter was never answered. Subsequent inquiries concerning code violations were also ignored.

An MNC lawyer insisted in that first article (and all ensuing ones) that his client had not yet occupied the building. In what may have been a proactive attempt to defuse any outcry from residents, the attorney went on to claim that while Mt. Lebanon zoning would allow a retail store for porn, his client intended to “run an entirely different operation” in Mt. Lebanon than it had on the North Side. He did not, however, elaborate as to what that “operation” would be.

Post-Gazette readers were already familiar with Majestic News Co. as the newspaper had run a series of articles, including a front-page above-the-fold report just a year earlier (January 30, 1978), detailing how MNC operated two warehouses on Pittsburgh’s North Side as well as The Aardvark, an adult movie theater/massage parlor, on Liberty Avenue. A follow-up article focused on the FBI investigation that had led to the indictments of MNC manager Reuben Sturman — “the nation’s reputed porn lord” — and five other MNC employees for interstate transportation of obscene magazines and films.

Think of the children!

Furious residents began calling the municipal offices to report they would be attending the March 1 court hearing regarding the illegal occupancy of the building, leading then municipal manager Ed Wesemann to predict the upcoming hearing “may prove lively.”

No one wanted a smut-filled building a block from the Pub & Pizza (now Caliente) where they enjoyed family dinners — even if the owner was nicknamed the Walt Disney of Pornography. Outraged residents formed committees, including Citizens Against Pornographic Store, circulated petitions, distributed fliers about upcoming meetings and handed out white ribbons, to be tied to car antennae to show opposition. Howe Elementary School parents, as well as parishioners led by the South Hills Clergy Association, a group of 60 local religious leaders, began organizing meetings in Sunset Hills homes. Jacobs, who was taking grad school classes in the evenings and could not attend the meetings, says she had neighbors who, living so close to the epicenter, went door-to-door trying to enlist people in the fight.

On February 25, Southminster Presbyterian Church’s Rev. Richard Cromie sermonized “We Don’t Need X-Rated Junk in Mt. Lebanon.” Hank L. Woods, of the South Hills Citizens for Community Action, proclaimed in a letter to the Post-Gazette that the committee’s petition had garnered 5,000 signatures, stating: “[I]n excess of 90 percent of those contacted desired an ordinance [against pornography] along the lines allowed by the Supreme Court.” This, of course, implied about 9 percent of Mt. Lebanon residents were completely fine with a warehouse full of lascivious materials in their backyard.

Jody Colby, who lived on Fruithurst Drive at the time, was head of the Howe School PTA in 1979 and recalls the community’s reaction well. “I went to many of the meetings” she says. “The PTA wanted to stay out of it, but we needed to be informed.”  According to Colby, meetings were orderly and no one suggested any far-out schemes or subterfuge to oust the Smut King from his new castle. The Post-Gazette however reported on February 16 that local groups were ready to picket Bartram’s Virginia Manor home “if necessary,” but no pickets or marches materialized. “It was a good example of people protesting without violence,” Colby says. “We really just wanted to put pressure on the township to get [MNC] out before they got established.” Of course, much of the subdued response was to keep kids from getting wind that (say it sotto voce) pornography was nearby.

Mike Riley, of the district attorney’s office, warned residents at a February 26 meeting at St. Winifred’s Church that Majestic would not go down without a fight, describing the organization as “a sophisticated outfit that has been causing trouble for years.” He suggested Mt. Lebanon residents work with state legislators to pass anti-pornography laws, which they did that September. Mt. Lebanon officials introduced an ordinance declaring “obscenity and pornography, lewd films, theaters, publications, massage parlors, and model studios” to be public nuisances subject to penalties for violations. Commissioner Mary Larsen cast the only dissenting vote, stating that while she was indeed against smut in Mt. Lebanon, she thought it should be the state’s responsibility for enforcement. Eventually, the Mt. Lebanon Zoning Code included a section governing the operation of sexually oriented businesses.

But despite the flurry of opposition, there was not much anyone could do. The only thing Mt. Lebanon had on MNC was that it was potentially in violation of a zoning ordinance. MNC swore they were not. MNC had a valid lease. At that time, Mt. Lebanon had no anti-pornography ordinances.

It was the last week of February when the tornado finally touched down, throwing people under buses all over town. Gottesman was fired. The real estate company returned all the money it had collected in rent, claiming the lease was invalid. Bartram, the building owner — who was being pilloried at the community meetings — stated he was “doing everything I can to get rid of them,” including filing a landlord-tenant action to evict MNC stating Gottesman had no authority to sign the lease. Gottesman replied that he was being used as a fall guy and that everyone — except him — knew exactly what kind of magazines MNC published.

A fortuitous turn of events

Almost lost in all the finger pointing was a smaller, page 2 story reporting a burglary attempt at the warehouse a week earlier.

At first glance it appeared nothing more than a standard burglary in process: around 1 a.m. — just eight minutes after the burglar alarm sounded — six Mt. Lebanon police officers (which seems excessive for a burglary) found a broken garage door panel and four young men inside — one of whom was clutching 18 magazines. “What officers saw inside the basement storage area of 370 Castle Shannon Boulevard that morning could give Mt. Lebanon zoning officials more fuel for its hearing Thursday,” wrote Gemperlein, who went on to remind readers that Majestic News Co. was still claiming they had not yet moved in.

How lucky! How serendipitous! Mt. Lebanon needed proof that MNC had moved in and now the whole MLPD night shift could testify that they saw with their own eyes all sorts of merchandise in the basement thanks to a handful of horny young men. In the wildest of coincidences, two of the suspects were the sons of a Mt. Lebanon patrolman, another was the son of the former head of the department’s patrol division and three of the young men were nephews of one of the arresting officers.

Although the article never used the words setup, that’s what the writer surely implied when mentioning the family dynamics. The suspects were charged with burglary and criminal trespass. While one waived his rights to a hearing, the other three went before District Magistrate William Ivill for a preliminary hearing the day before MNC’s ordinance violation hearing. It was then that things went from weird to surreal: Representatives from MNC invoked their Fifth Amendment rights and refused to testify against the young men because they (MNC employees) were under indictment in U.S. District Court. Since Ivill lacked the proper authority to rule on the Fifth Amendment issue and since testimony from MNC representatives was, according to Ivill, “crucial in determining whether to hold charges,” what should have been a simple preliminary hearing was transferred to Criminal Division Administrative Judge Robert Dauer.

The next day, March 1, approximately 125 citizens filed into the Mt. Lebanon Municipal Building for the hearing against MNC. At the four-and-a-half-hour hearing, utility company employees and Mt. Lebanon police officers testified they had seen walls inside the building lined with magazines, books, films and sexual devices. United States Postal Service representatives stated that 64 packages had been delivered to the building between January 12 and February 26 and that they’d seen office and construction workers inside as well.

The testimony was enough for Judge Ivill to rule that both MNC and Bartram were in violation of Mt. Lebanon’s occupancy and zoning laws. MNC was fined $1,500 and Bartram’s corporation $1,000 for “cooperation, encouraging and acquiescing in the arrangement whereby Majestic occupied the building.” Fines would continue to accrue daily for every day the two companies remained in violation. Although Majestic was not kicked out, a padlock was installed that required a key from the municipality and another from Majestic to open.

Meanwhile, a Downtown Pittsburgh store began selling novelty T-shirts reading: “Mt. Lebanon: Porno Capital of the World.” Morning radio hosts O’Brien & Garry had a field day with the story.

But MNC would not admit defeat. On March 8, after filing an appeal, which succeeded in suspending the daily fines, Majestic’s lawyer Carl Janavitz said: “We’ve accomplished everything today that we set out to do. We stopped the ridiculous fines… [and secured] the rights and privileges on behalf of our client that are afforded to all… citizens.” He added they would continue to fight for their rights to have a warehouse in Mt. Lebanon. “We want to stay in Mt. Lebanon,” Janavitz said in a March 19 Post-Gazette article. “We like Mt. Lebanon…but it’s just a matter of working things out.” The gauntlet had been thrown. Obviously the Porn King and his minions did not care that Mt. Lebanon did not like them.

On April 5, the Post-Gazette reported that Bartram and MNC had struck a deal: in exchange for a termination of the rental agreement, Bartram would reimburse Majestic for their estimated $33,000 of building improvements. In a move that almost seemed like it was baiting the suburban prudes, Rochelle Friedman, another Majestic lawyer, was quoted in the Post-Gazette saying that MNC still intended to move a warehouse or a retail outlet to the South Hills. “We will not give up on moving to Mt. Lebanon,” she said. Although it was not reported in the article, Friedman surely ended that statement with an evil chortle.

But the worst of the storm was finally over. In the next few weeks, Judge Dauer ruled that MNC employees under indictment could indeed take the Fifth; lawyers for the young burglars then countered that their clients could not be tried for illegal entry if “no one could testify they had no permission to be in the building.” Criminal docket reports show the charges against the young men were dismissed in July 1981.

On May 1, 1979, Majestic News placed ads in area newspapers seeking an 8,000-10,0000 square foot one-floor warehouse with zoning “correct for a Wholesale Distributor of Adult Magazine, Paperbacks, & Novelties.” Majestic’s insistence on opening a South Hills location resulted in Pleasant Hills, Bethel Park, and Findlay Township all passing anti-obscenity/pornography ordinances.

A year later, the building’s padlock was removed, and a cavalcade of dirty books, magazines films and even a life-sized rubber sex doll found its way into the grateful hands of the locals. “There was a big hue and cry among the children that there was a new library in town,” said then Police Chief Varrelman. “The kids were going down there in droves.”

MNC may have gotten the last laugh by leaving their wares behind for the kids of the suburban prudes to pilfer, but, four months later, Mt. Lebanon residents breathed a collective sigh of relief upon reading that Porn King Sturman, who had lorded over a multi-million-dollar smut empire for two decades, pleaded guilty in US District Court to 40 counts of interstate transportation of obscene materials. As part of a plea bargain in which  Sturman agreed to never again set up business in Pittsburgh, the US attorney’s office dropped the criminal prosecution against him and five of his business associates.

Al Capone, Martha Stewart, and a host of other famous rich people can attest that you should never mess with the IRS. Sturman might add that riling up suburbanites with NIMBY issues is a pretty bad idea as well.

THE KING OF PORN

Reuben Sturman was born in 1924, and grew up in Cleveland, the child of Russian immigrants. He started selling used comic books out of the trunk of his car and wound up becoming the architect of the international pornography industry. He invented the peep-show booth, which created a demand for film loops, which created the boom in American porn films.

He became the focus of prosecution by the U.S. Justice Department, which claimed that he was the top producer and distributor of pornography in the country, and closely linked to many organized crime families. He was tried on numerous occasions, beginning in 1964 and lasting throughout the 1980s on obscenity charges, but they all ended in either mistrials, dismissals, acquittals, or his convictions were overturned on appeal. The FBI had an almost 700-page file on Sturman.

In 1980 he pled guilty in U.S. District Court to 40 counts of interstate transportation of obscene materials. As part of a plea bargain in which Sturman agreed to never again set up business in Pittsburgh, the U.S. Attorney’s office dropped the criminal prosecution against him and five of his business associates.

Nine years later, Sturman’s refusal to pay his taxes caught up with him (a 1995 Los Angeles Times article claimed Sturman “could not stand the idea that the government would use his tax money to continue prosecuting him for obscenity”). He was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to 10 years in jail plus $2.5 million in fines. According to his Wikipedia profile, he was caught trying to bribe a juror (using his ex-wife as bait!) and was sentenced to 19 additional years for extortion. He briefly escaped a California prison, but eventually died in a federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky, on October 27, 1997.