Newsstands of Tomorrow Get Mixed Reviews Today- NY Times 08-30-08

Cemusa, the Madrid-based advertising company, recently began installation of street furniture under a 20-year contract with the city of New York. The installation includes bus shelters, magazine stands and pay toilets which over the life of the 20-year contract will bring the city upwards of a billion dollars in revenue. I have been relatively unphased by this because it changes little about the amount of advertising in the city, though the bus shelters advertisements now rotate bringing you twice the ads, and the magazine stands have taken ads to heroic new sizes.

Regardless I have had my attentions other places until I read this article in the New York Times. Glen Collins writes "Before 2003, newsstand operators paid the city a licensing fee, but owned and paid for their newsstands and, under certain circumstances, could sell them. Now the newsstands are owned by Cemusa, and operators pay a two-year city license fee of $1,076....New operators will pay Cemusa a one-time fee of $27,000 for their newsstands..." This would all be fine and dandy if the old newsstands hadn't been in many cases "...confiscated without any compensation..." from their previous owners.

What we are seeing in this article is commercial ad revenue, which is at the heart of this matter since it is what has driven Cemusa to so kindly install millions of dollars in street furniture in an American city, walking over public space. Under the assumption that the Cemusa street furniture brings "...a unique, iconic look, and brings a positive, coordinated feel to the streets.", Bloomberg has co-conspired with Cemusa to steal the cities control of our public environment and give it to a company willing to share a small amount of the ad revenue it will generate by stealing that space. This billion dollars we are making over the next twenty years is what has allowed the city government to steal and to turn a cold shoulder on many of its residents' needs while pandering to the wishes of a billion dollar corporation like Cemusa and should be seen as the culprit. Without commercial money "funding" our city facilities we would never be in a situation where we can so blatantly neglect the rights of our citizens.

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Cemusa NYC

Not so recently Cemusa outdoor began installing new bus stop and magazine kiosk outdoor furniture in NYC. The new bus stops are equipped with pertinent public transportation information as well as rotating advertising allowing twice the number of ads to be placed in the same amount of space. Along with these "improvements" the new bus stops from what I've been told are equipped with bluetooth technology allowing them to beam pertinent transportation information along with advertising to bluetooth equipped devices being carried by pedestrians and motorists. We will see what comes of this but in the meantime I think its worth checking out their website and taking a look at the language they use to justify their current project.

If you dont want to look at the site at least read what they say about their NYC endeavor on their splash page.

As a global company with successful street furniture contracts around the world, Cemusa is pleased to announce the addition of New York City to its portfolio. Cemusa worked in partnership with the city of New York to provide street furniture that boasts contemporary, eye-catching design, enhances New York's dynamic street life and features the highest level of quality to face unpredictable weather conditions.

After establishing its North American headquarters in New York City, Cemusa continues to strengthen the city's economy by bringing significant revenue to the city and creating numerous jobs through the use of local vendors for the design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance of the structures. Cemusa is proud to provide New York residents with added safety, security and comfort in public transportation.