The New York Times
July 8, 2001, Sunday
THE CITY WEEKLY DESK
NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: NOHO; A Pole Is 85 Feet High, With No Flag in Sight
By DENNY LEE (NYT) 444 words
An 85-foot-tall pole for a billboard stands forlorn in the backyard of a building on the Bowery, caught in legal limbo between old and new rules restricting outdoor advertising.
Van Wagner, the sign company, began constructing the pole in early February, right before the new rules took effect and shortly after one of the company's partners bought the building at 356 Bowery, which is home to half a dozen tenants. The company planned to attach a doubled-sided billboard, measuring 20 feet by 60 feet, that would be displayed over the roof. A vinyl sign for Evian water is just below the spot where the new billboard would hang.
But work stopped after neighbors complained to the city's Department of Buildings. They said they would lose light and air, and voiced concerns that the six-foot-thick pole, which was being driven 30 feet into the ground, was weakening the foundation of nearby buildings.
''It's one of those signs that belong on the Long Island Expressway,'' said Jonathan Lanman, who lives in an adjacent building.
Buildings officials revoked the permit for the billboard, saying that the new city restrictions invalidated it. Those restrictions, which took effect Feb. 21, placed a 75-foot cap on signs in NoHo and other areas. The old rules had no height limits.
Other billboard companies may face a similar bind because many rushed to erect billboards before the new law was enacted.
''They didn't build the sign in time to have it grandfathered,'' said Robert Iulo, director of special projects at the buildings department. ''The permit had to be issued, and the sign erected, before Dec. 13 for it to be under the old law.''
Paul Whitby, general counsel for Van Wagner, disagrees. ''That's not what the statute says,'' he said. ''We have submitted our interpretations of the facts.''
Van Wagner wants the old law to apply because the planned 20-foot-high billboard would be atop the 60-foot building, and so would exceed the 75-foot limit. The buildings department is reviewing the permit.
''We would not have purchased this building if we couldn't put a sign there,'' Mr. Whitby said. ''We own the property. It's our light and air.'' DENNY LEE
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