Parks keeps butchering trees at Old Hickory Park

"For the third year in a row the trees that line the edge of Old Hickory Park have been cut back to nothing but trunk. These trees used to provide a barrier between the neighborhood and the tunnel. However the views of the billboards above the tunnel entrance seem to outweigh the value of our park. This horror is going on today and will probably continue into tomorrow. I have photos of the destruction as well as the city permit. This stinks of corruption." - Anonymous

Hipsters moving to Detroit

From the NY Times:

“Detroit, Just West of Bushwick,” read the first billboard that popped up in Bushwick, Brooklyn, this spring, with a working class scene from one of Diego Rivera’s “Detroit Industry” murals. “Detroit, Be Left Alone,” a second one preached soon after, again in Bushwick. And then a third sign appeared, in two locations in Brooklyn and two in Manhattan — “Detroit: Now Hiring.”

No one quite knew where they were coming from or who had put them up.

But when an unrelated photo popped up on Instagram — “Move to Detroit” spray-painted on a girder of the Brooklyn Bridge — the campaign’s anonymous crusader finally revealed himself.

“I rent billboard spaces where others don’t see value. That is how I saw Detroit on my first visit four years ago,” said Philip Kafka, the 28-year-old man who then put his passion behind the billboards with his SoHo-based company, Prince Media. “I saw great buildings, a deep and rich cultural history, and met amazing people.”

He now owns six buildings in the Motor City, one of which will house his new restaurant, Katoi, across the street from Detroit’s most photographed “ruin porn,” the Michigan Central Station. “I want people to know that in Detroit you can afford to make art, be a chef, buy houses, start a business, do anything if you work hard,” he said.

It is now well-documented that some of Brooklyn’s much-written-about creative class is being driven out of the borough by high prices and low housing stock. Some are going to Los Angeles (or even Queens), but others are migrating to the Midwest, where Detroit’s empty industrial spaces, community-based projects, experimental art scene and innovative design opportunities beckon, despite the city’s continuing challenges.

“Brooklyn lost its whole sense of adventure for me,” said Ben Wolf, 31, a Pratt Institute graduate who, after more than a decade in New York, moved to Detroit almost three years ago to continue creating his site-specific installations and sculptures, made from rotten boards, rusty stairwells and peeling paint, or as he said, “the decadence of abandonment.”

Billboard vs. Mike Miller

Alrighty then.

Imagine our future...with a whole bunch of illegal signs

If Melinda Katz et al want to revitalize Jamaica, they can start at Hillside Ave and the Van Wyck where 2 corners opposite each other are loaded with illegal signage. I like the Landmarks billboard though. Queens sure has a lot to celebrate in that department.

Ciafone strikes again

Imagine walking down the block and coming upon this staring down at you. But hey - it's got an American flag, so he must be a true patriot!

Unfortunately, the billboards erected at 687 Meeker Ave likely didn't have any permits. They wouldn't be allowed on a residential property anyway.

There are also banners hanging off the front of the building.

A couple of complaints were called in back in 2012 and have yet to be addressed by DOB.

Lord have mercy!

From the Daily News:

Churches and strip clubs usually don’t go together — let alone share a space.

So local leaders were less than thrilled to see a billboard for Roadhouse NYC go up above the New Hope Baptist Church on busy Northern Blvd. in Corona.

But following a Daily News inquiry, the billboard is expected to come down on Thursday.

“We had no idea it was above a church,” said a Roadhouse manager, who only identified himself as Adam. “We’re definitely very sorry.”

The upscale gentleman’s club opened on Aug. 20 in Flushing and this was its first — and only — billboard. He said that no one had called the club to complain about it.

A rep from the topless establishment’s advertising firm confirmed that the club — and the company — was unaware that the billboard sat over the storefront church and a neighboring grocery store on the congested thoroughfare.

Billboard owners fail to pay City $20M

From the Daily News:

City property owners failed to report an estimated $20 million in income from billboards attached to their buildings over a two-year period.

That’s according to an audit this week from state and city controllers Thomas DiNapoli and John Liu, who say the New York City Department of Finance has been too lax about penalizing building owners.

A whopping 82% of the 871 city buildings with billboards on them didn’t report any income from the outdoor ad space in the tax years 2009 and 2010, the audit said.

Billboard owners want to be grandfathered

From the Daily News:

Two Astoria landlords are boldly advertising their displeasure with the city.

Paul Halvatzis and Steve Kesoglides are feuding with the city over billboards on their residential buildings, both located on the north side of Astoria Blvd. near the Grand Central Parkway.

In 2011, the city presented each man with a sky-high fine and informed them that the billboards — both of which dated to the World War II era — were out of compliance with the law.

The city won a ruling in 2010 that allowed the Buildings Department to crack down on longstanding signs near highways — if they didn’t have permits.

The owners are now fighting the city in Queens Supreme Court, demanding that the billboards be grandfathered for permanent compliance.

A decision is expected within the next few months, a lawyer for the owners said.

The Buildings Department went after Kesoglides — despite his permit — because billboards cannot be grandfathered into residential zones, said DOB spokesman Tony Sclafani.

The agency was empowered to issue fines after it won the 2010 billboard suit.

“That was created more than 40 years ago,” he said of the zoning. “By law, advertising signs are only allowed 10 years after a residential zone is designated.”

Another ugly billboard

If I was in charge of Jennifer Leather, I would make sure that eastbound travelers on Queens Blvd saw the same neat-looking sign that westbound travelers do, but that's just me.

Billboard a hazard that no one wants to address

From the Queens Chronicle:

An article in the latest edition of Newtown Civic Association’s newsletter criticized the condition of an unused billboard in Elmhurst, calling upon the city to fix it.

“The sign company no longer uses the sign for advertising and has abandoned it,” the article read. “Yet this dangerous condition continues to the detriment of passersby.”

The billboard was reportedly erected illegally but has not been used for advertisements in a number of months, resulting in one-inch thick pieces of plywood falling from the structure onto the sidewalk.

The building it stands on, also abandoned, was once the El Tucan Banquet Hall.

The NCA claims they have spoken before the City Council and have called upon the City Department of Buildings Queens headquarters to rectify the situation but they say the complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

According to the DOB website, the owner of the building, Mohammad Malik, has already received a number of violations, the most recent being on Jan. 8 after a follow-up inspection.

On Dec. 28, 2012, Malik received an Environmental Control Board violation for failing “to maintain at roof level, billboard structure broken and missing boards throughout and in danger of falling.”

Even though the building is abandoned and has been for some time, responsibility for both the building and the billboard fall on the owner, who will have to appear in court on April 9.
As of printing, Malik was not available for comment.

MTA not exempt from billboard regs

From the NY Times:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is not above the law that bans billboards along highways in New York City, an independent panel has ruled in a decision that could cost the agency $1 million a year.

Ten advertising signs on the authority’s property in Queens and in the Bronx violate an ordinance prohibiting signs along major roadways, the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals said in a decision filed on Thursday.

The ruling affirmed the position of the Buildings Department, which enforces the billboard rules. City officials have argued that giant signs looming near roadways are hazardous because they could distract drivers.

The authority had appealed, arguing in part that the billboards were not only a source of additional revenue but also an aid to commuters.

The five-member panel disagreed, saying in its decision, “The assertion that the signs are for the benefit of passengers is very strained.” It added, “Many of the signs may not even be visible to train passengers” because they are designed to be seen by drivers and passengers on the roadways.

The panel, which considers requests for exemptions to the city’s zoning code, also rejected the authority’s argument that because it is a state agency, its property is exempt from local ordinances. For years, the Buildings Department had given the authority a pass, but it changed that stance several years ago after some advertising companies challenged the rules in court.

Queens Plaza billboard battle

From the NY Post:

A 75-year-old Queens billboard could go blank if the city has its way.

Atlantic Outdoor Advertising began leasing the billboard at 23-10 Queens Plaza South in 1999, but when it sought permission to change wording on the rooftop display last year, the move was rejected because the city claimed the billboard was not an “advertising” sign.

The billboard has towered above the Queensboro Bridge approach roadway and elevated-train lines since 1936, when it was built by the then-Long Island City-based Eagle Electric.

The company, once did its manufacturing in the Queens Plaza South space, putting its slogan, “Perfection is not an Accident,” on the billboard.

“This is an iconic sign; it’s not far off from the Pepsi sign or other signs in the city that are familiar to drivers for many years,” said Atlantic lawyer Simon Rothkrug.

The city decided in 2011 that the sign’s use should be restricted to advertising only what was made or produced in the building it sat upon, not for general advertising.

MTA-DOB billboard war

From the NY Post:

The MTA and the city are at cross-tracks over more than $1 million worth of billboards, with each side claiming it has the power to tell the other what to do.

The Buildings Department started the feud in March when it ordered the state transportation agency to remove 19 advertising signs on its properties along major highways in Queens.

Billboards put up after 1979 near arterial roadways and parks are generally illegal.

A crackdown over the past couple of years has forced private companies to yank dozens of similar signs, especially along the LIE and BQE.

It just so happens that most of the 19 MTA signs are situated along those same two thoroughfares.

But the MTA says it has special status as a state agency, and is challenging the Buildings Department’s authority.

City to start cracking down on illegal billboards

From the NY Post:

It’s taken Buildings Department officials eight years, but they’ve finally figured out that Yankee Stadium is nowhere near Yonkers.

So the giant billboard off the Yankee Stadium exit ramp from the Major Deegan Expressway that’s been in violation of zoning regulations since 2004 — under a bizarre exemption claiming it’s within a half-mile of the city’s boundary line — will have to come down.

So will about 75 advertising signs on properties owned by the MTA, the Port Authority and Amtrak that a federal judge ruled in 2009 fall under the city’s jurisdiction, but which the department for some reason never got around to reviewing.

“We will be enforcing against the signs on those properties,” vowed Buildings spokesman Tony Sclafani.

One of those is the iPad ad draping an MTA building that’s practically within touching distance of motorists headed south on FDR Drive near 125th Street.

Operators of some of the smaller billboard companies say they have an explanation why the illegal signs have been allowed to stay up for so long: selective enforcement. They claim they’re getting hammered by fines that start at $10,000 per violation, while bigger billboard players such as Van Wagner get a free ride.

Questioning billboard safety

From the Daily News:

After an illegally stationed billboard next to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway fell onto traffic lanes in Brooklyn last month, Councilman James Vacca is demanding more accountability on how permits for the structures are granted.

"There are now more questions than answers," said Vacca, chair of the City Council’s transportation committee.

A giant Mega Millions Lottery sign flew off a Greenpoint rooftop in 40-mph winds on Jan. 13 and smacked into the westbound area of the elevated BQE.

Vacca cited at least three billboards in his district in the east Bronx that are not in compliance with the law regulating commercial billboards, which states they are supposed to be at least 200 feet away from any major highway.

Millions in fines owed for illegal billboards

From Eyewitness News:

It's been a week since a giant illegal billboard collapsed on the BQE.

Since then, an Eyewitness News investigation has discovered illegal billboards are everywhere and the companies that own them owe the city millions in unpaid fines.

When the illegal billboard came crashing down in strong winds on the BQE, Brooklyn City Council woman Letitia James got caught in the ensuing gridlock.

It gave her time to think about the years she spent trying to rid the city of these illegal signs.

"Some of these are major businesses and they've been put on notice time and time again," James said.

Mogul Media owned the collapsed billboard.

Eyewitness News checked Department of Building records and found Mogul has at least three other illegal signs for which it still owes the city $40,000.

But that's nothing compared to other billboard companies.

Company gets permission from city to cut down trees

From LIQCity:

This is the classic battle in urban areas between community and commercial interests. Trees in the park are clearly for public enjoyment and comfortability, but these ones (which were BEAUTIFUL by the way) are blocking a commercial sign. How the sign company was able to get a permit from the city to cut down the city’s own trees for their benefit is actually quite impressive, but at the end of the day of course the community loses.

And this is not the only arboricide happening in LIC. From the same link, regarding Queens Plaza:

All the newly planted trees were full with leaves and the place was transformed. But the NYC Parks Department seems to have forgetten that new and large transplanted trees need regular watering. Over 25 trees as tall as 16 feet were counted with crispy, dead leaves and this is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer dollars for a Department that must know better. Each tree costs several thousand dollars and it doesn’t matter even if the contractor is required to replace any dead trees. Taxpayers will pay for it next time as just a cost of doing business.

Sky View Center advertises its free parking

"Is retail business falling off at Sky View Center ?

A billboard featuring "free parking" was just taken by Related/Onex
on the eastern side of the LIRR train trestle that crosses Northern B'lvd. at the Broadway Station.

Is this meant to entice the gentile folk traveling from the more beautiful environs of northeast Queens to make the supreme sacrifice and visit congested, gridlocked downtown Flushing to do their shopping there ?

Why would they want to....for the free parking ?

All they have to do is travel a little further east to cleaner conditions and better shopping malls featuring the same chain stores and the same free parking." - The Flushing Phantom

Unintended consequence of billboard law

QUEENS, NY (PIX11) — If you have driven on the Long Island Expressway lately, you may have noticed a lot of empty billboards.

It's not a reflection of a bad economy, says Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., it's a reflection of a bad choice by the City.

"The City passed a law banning them from the highways to beautify our City. But they couldn't actually ban the sign. So now they are still up and covered with graffiti," complained Vallone.

Up and down major roadways in the City, drivers have noticed the empty space, now covered in ugly graffiti. "Interesting. Why don't they just put up inspiration thoughts or messages like Welcome to Queens," asked Shiela Madison, from Long Island City.

Vallone says a law passed years ago was designed to prevent clutter on highways, and is now creating a new concern. "It's just blank canvasses for graffiti. They are eyesores," said Vallone, hoping to ignite a conversation among City leaders and the community for a change.

Collecting on sign fines

From the NY Post:

A slew of zoning violations worth $32.7 million in fines has been doled out to owners since the city started cracking down on illegal signs and billboards by highways five years ago.

But of that total, just $4.7 million worth of summonses have been settled.

That leaves a big chunk of change -- $28 million -- still either in judgement or awaiting adjudication.

And now, officials are tired of waiting for the cash to come in.

"We have reached out to the businesses, used outside collection agencies and searched for seizable assets in an effort to resolve these debts," said Finance Department spokesman Owen Stone.

A single violation can reach $25,000 -- and some signs are slapped with multiple violations.

The city and the billboard industry have been battling for a decade over enforcement of regulations that prohibit billboards within 200 feet of a park or highway.

It's still in litigation.