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Earlier this month we noticed that the Conor Harrington piece at the corner of 13th and Washington was covered up by an illegal and unpermitted NPA advertising panel. Yesterday the Public Ad Campaign, who targeted the company's billboards during a takeover in April, uncovered the colorful piece of artwork and reclaimed the space... for now.
Improv Everywhere's Charlie Todd calls out the company's ongoing shenanigans, saying "The city is not getting paid. Instead, they pay the landlords of the buildings they use. Citizens are forced to look at advertising all over NYC because this company has illegally plastered their ads all over town. For whatever reason, the city looks the other way and rarely cracks down on them."
If the NYPD is fining street artists and sending taggers to jail, should they be doing the same to companies putting up illegal ads on our walls? Todd points out that after the aforementioned April takeover of some of these billboards, the NPA found a loophole and added a sign to each panel stating: “Coming soon to this location: a chance to win these posters and other prizes inside.” The catch being it's illegal for a landlord to put an advertisement on the side of a building, "but it’s not illegal to put up a sign advertising products that are for sale inside." Of course, there aren't actually any products inside either, but that's where the whole "Coming Soon" caveat comes into play.
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That loophole is really interesting, and the mural is cool, but I'm worried moviegoers aren't going to be informed enough about 2012.
Isn't it enough that the Mayans warned us?
I can take a guess why the city never does anything about illegal ads. Whoever's in charge of enforcement probably got paid off by this company. Isn't that how everything works here?
My guess is just that these companies go ahead and do it without informing the city at all, and the on-the-ground enforcement doesn't think to look into whether or not those people putting up a billboard are permitted. Whereas, a kid with a can of spraypaint is a more often associated with 'crime'.
The key word here is "pay." If street artists and taggers were paying somebody, anybody, you can be sure that the powers that be would look the other way.
Why should the city get paid for advertisements posted on private property? Because the city must issue permits for outdoor advertisements, and receive money for them. The boundary of property for most stores and apartments is the inside of your walls - the outside is still regulated by the city.