New York City “unfair to billboard firms”
Billboard operators and site owners in New York are accusing city authorities of unfairly slapping fines on them while ignoring rule-breaking by the construction industry.
“The Department of Buildings over-zealously targets outdoor advertisers and grossly over-penalises them for non-harmful violations, while serving comparatively smaller fines for numerous potentially life-threatening violations at construction sites, including many related to crane operation,” said city council member Bill deBlasio, who supports the protest.
The Department of Buildings’ critics say that erecting a bigger-than-authorised billboard carries a fine of $10,000, but a construction firm operating a crane without an inspection certificate – potentially much more dangerous than the billboard – would only be fined $2400.
The number of fines imposed on the outdoor-advertising business in New York has also increased by at least 400 percent in the last two years, they say.
Although the maximum penalty for each violation of the rules is $15,000, some signs attract as many as eight separate fines.
“New York is the advertising capital of the world, and billboards are as important to the city’s character and economy as yellow cabs, Broadway shows, and parades,” said Ari Noe, CEO of outdoor-advertising firm OTR Media.
Billboards are also an important source of revenue for building owners in a depressed real-estate market, the activists say.
www.otrmediagroup.com
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