The FCC is intensifying its enforcement of the PIRATE Act in the New York City area, targeting landlords tied to unlicensed FM radio signals after being unable to identify the broadcasters themselves in two separate boroughs.
In Springfield Gardens, Queens, adjacent to JFK International Airport, a pirate station broadcasting at 91.9 MHz was confirmed on January 16 by agents from the New York Office of the FCC Enforcement Bureau. Using direction-finding equipment, agents traced the unauthorized transmission to a property on 225th Street. With no success in reaching the station operator, the FCC turned its attention to the building’s owner, Westchester-based North Shore Financial I, Inc.
As a result, the company’s Richard Banach received a Notice of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting. The letter, dated May 8, demands Banach confirm within 10 business days that the signal has been shut down—and provide the name of the tenant behind the broadcast—or risk facing millions of dollars in fines.
A similar situation is unfolding in Brooklyn’s Midwood neighborhood. FCC agents confirmed a pirate station operating at 88.7 MHz in October 2024, originating from 1917 Coney Island Avenue. The property is owned by Z And N Enterprises Corp., which is now under scrutiny for potentially enabling the operation by leasing space to the unknown pirate broadcaster.
The company has until May 2 to prove the broadcast has ceased and to identify the responsible party. That notice also came from Region One Enforcement Bureau Director Dave Dombrowski.
Under the PIRATE Act, the FCC can impose substantial penalties not only on illegal operators but also on property owners who knowingly allow their premises to be used for unlicensed broadcasting. With the latest report, the maximum monetary penalty has been raised from $2,391,097 to $2,453,218, while the per-violation fine is now $122,661.
