GVSHP Gets Serious About Illegal Signage at Greenwich and 12th Street

We just got an email from Andrew Berman at the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation regarding the illegal Equinox signage at Greenwich Ave. & 12th street. As it explains very thoroughly what has been done to remove the illegal signage, I will copy it below verbatim. Amongst other things the GVSHP polices advertising and signage infractions within their community and has a great track record for making things happen. It seems from this email that the ball is rolling and that this illegal sign will likely come down quickly.

Dear friend,

I wanted to let you know that we have just been informed that the Department of Buildings today issued 13 violations to Equinox for their billboards at Greenwich Avenue and 12th Street. The Landmarks Preservation Commission has also issued them a warning letter, which can be found at PDF.

As you know, we have been pushing the city to issue strong violations against Equinox as soon as possible, to force them to remove the signage. We will continue to push both the city and Equinox until the illegal signage is removed.

Toward that end, please see the article about these efforts in today's Villager newspaper and look for a report on tonight's NY1 news.

Thank you for all your help with this matter. We will continue to keep you informed on our progress in pursuing these billboards' removal.

What is amazing to me is that a single sign like this can cause such outrage because of its high profile nature while an entire company like Contest Promotions or NPA can go completely unaffected, operating over 500 illegal signs around the city of which I have mapped over 180. Not only have we mapped these locations but we have given them to the GVSHP and the DOB. On top of this we have gathered in mass on two occasions to take back these spaces for public use and 9 of us have been arrested. The result of all this has been a resounding quiet to say the least, although we have had a lot of fun.

At first glance it would seem that the public is less concerned about the smaller less obtrusive signage pictured above and run illegally by NPA. Rather I think we have become so accustomed to these smaller signs that we cannot imagine they are actually illegal. In fact I think unless something glares so brightly that you cannot not notice it, most of us spend little time assessing the quality of our city streets and realizing that we have some level of control over those spaces. This knowledge is not only fantastic on the individual level, but collectively if we question and take responsibility for our public spaces we become very invested in our neighborhoods and communities.

The Greenwich Village Society For Historical Preservation

A good friend and reader of PublicAdCampaign recently made me aware of The Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation which has been taking action against illegal signage with much recent success. Their Mission states...

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation was founded in 1980 to preserve the architectural heritage and cultural history of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. GVSHP is a leader in protecting the sense of place and human scale that define the Village’s unique community.

Our programs include: Educational outreach in the form of public lectures, tours, exhibitions, and publications; A school program that teaches children about Greenwich Village history and architecture; Preservation leadership on such issues as preservation of the South Village; Preservation projects that promote an understanding of the Village’s historic importance, such as the Greenwich Village Preservation Archive and Oral History Project; Consultation services on a wide variety of preservation issues, with GVSHP serving the community as historian, educator, archival resource, and technical consultant.

I have contacted them in hopes our extensive maps of illegal NPA signage might be of use to them in their fight to retain neighborhood identity and hold off the encroachment of illegal signage and unwanted commercial messages.