Lights out? NYC vows to keep Times Square signs, despite fed pressure

[Erik Sine]

Lights out? NYC vows to keep Times Square signs, despite fed pressure

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/06/lights-out-nyc-reportedly-under-fed-pressure-to-take-down-times-square/

Times Square -- the "crossroads of the world" -- is beautiful just as it is, thank you.

That's New York City's official response following reports that the city is facing federal pressure to remove its iconic oversized billboards from the site, perhaps best known as the backdrop to the country's New Year's Eve celebrations.

Capital New York and CBS2 first reported that a 2012 federal transportation law had ensnared Times Square by declaring that the storied Broadway and 7th Avenue intersection -- and other city streets -- fell under the 1965 Highway Beautification Act, because they were arterial routes to the federal highway system.

The 1965 law says billboards within 660 feet of a highway can't be more than 1,200 square feet. And Times Square's looming luminous signs certainly fall outside those restrictions.

But an official with the city's Department of Transportation told FoxNews.com the signs will stay.

"The signage will not be removed," the official said in an email. The official noted that these streets must comply with federal regulations, but said the city is in "direct contact with the Federal Highway Administration on the matter and are working with New York State DOT and New York City Department of Buildings to identify a solution in which signage will remain unchanged."

It's unclear how the city might be able to get out of it, and the official did not offer specifics.

City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg reportedly said the city has been under pressure to get rid of the billboards -- or give up part of the state's federal highway funds.

CBS2 reports that the city is looking at simply trying to get an exemption from the federal law. According to CBS2, about $90 million in federal highway money is at stake.

Bringing Times Square under the Beautification Act may not have been intentional. After all, the Johnson administration-era law was originally meant to clean up rural areas of the country.

"The signs in Times Square are wonderful. They're iconic. They're not only a global tourist attraction, they're important to the economy," Trottenberg told CBS2, vowing to fight to keep them.

According to The Wall Street Journal, One Times Square brings in more than $23 million annually from the signs, with companies paying several million apiece for the coveted ad real estate.

[dave C.]

This is absurd! They take 50 years to enforce a law? I suspect this is about something else. Not sure what but I would bet MONEY or a POWER GRAB is involved.

[paul321]

They have a better chance getting rid of gambling in Las Vegas. Another wild fantasy from our government