[From today's Sun: "Robert Julavits, a spokesman for Citibank, which bought the ad wrapped around the Flatiron building, said yesterday the company would look into the matter and was committed to complying with any restrictions." Mmmhmm. Photo by Patrick Moroney via MAS/Curbed Shoot It Down contest]
On the same weekend in which the City Section reported that city-owned trees were cut down outside the Chelsea apartment building The Cheney on West 23rd so as not to hide some fresh advertecture from our Don't-Call-It-A-Phone friends at Helio, Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer held a news conference in front of the Flatiron Building yesterday to call for an end to illegal advertecture. "We've had enough of illegal black market advertising in our city," he declared. Reports the Sun:
The advertising ban has long been flouted, owing largely to a lack of enforcement and the fact that the revenue generated by the ads greatly exceeds the fines for violations. While Buildings Department fines for illegal advertising can range from $2,500 for an ignored first citation to $10,000 for ignored subsequent violations, one building industry executive said a billboard-style ad on a sidewalk shed can bring in up to $50,000 a month.Er, indeed. The fine for beheading those four trees in Chelsea to make way for Helio? $4,000.
· Record Numbers of Scaffolds Spur Cottage Industry in Corporate Advertising [Sun]
· Neighborhood Mystery: The Incredible Shrinking Trees [NYTimes]
· Curbed Advertecture Corps: We Have a Winner [Curbed]