Council Member Rafael Espinal sponsored the bill to halt sign violation fees. Image Credit: Official NYC Council Photo by John McCarten

Small business owners faced fines upwards of $15,000. In response to public outcry and community concerns on the hardships imposed on local businesses, on January 9, 2019, the New York City Council passed new legislation that would temporarily stop fines from violations issued to small businesses for failing to conform to their sign permits or those who did not have the proper permits at all. The Department usually gets 900 complaints a year, but that number doubled in 2018. By law, when the Department of Buildings is referred complaints through 311, they have to send an inspector out to the property. (read more…)

Major Deegan Expressway. Image credit: Crispy1995.

Clear Channel Outdoor installed a monopole on a vacant lot to support two large billboards near the Major Deegan Expressway. In 2009, Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc. installed a double-sided sign structure within view of the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx. The monopole structure supported a sign for Clear Channel on one side and a sign for Beringer wines on the other. The premises was vacant other than the monopole sign structure. A building with a roof sign had existed for many years on the premises prior to the erection of the mono pole. (read more…)

Image Credit: Google Maps

OTR Media sought to legalize an 11,297-square-foot billboard visible from the Bruckner Expressway. On January 14, 2013, the Department of Buildings issued a Sign Registration Rejection letter denying registration for a sign leased by OTR Media Group. The 79- by 143-foot sign, constructed in 1962, was located at 330 Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx—35 feet from and within view of the Bruckner Expressway. Buildings based its rejection on a seven-year gap from 1981 to 1988 when the sign was legally used as an accessory sign. (read more…)