Illegal Signs Taken Down in SoHo

There are some advertising companies out there that do not pay attention to the fines received from the city for the posting of illegal signs. However, the city of New York is hoping these advertising companies will think again and think wisely because now, the cost will be very high, so much as six figures high. The Law Department, as well as the Landmarks Preservation Commission, made an announcement last week, stating that the city has already collected $225,000 because of illegal signs that were installed without permission. The city filed a lawsuit against the Colossal Media Group last year and the payment was provided to the city as a settlement. The Colossal Media Group also owned a large building, with empty walls that could be seen by thousands of residents each day, as it was directly upon a busy street.

An assistant corporation counsel, Melanie V. Sadok, says that this lawsuit and the amount of money that the company had to pay should set red flags up to other companies, showing them that if they choose to disregard landmarks in the city without getting permission for their signs, they will have to pay the consequences. Sadok wants the offenders to know that when they violate laws, they will end up paying for it and the amount they will pay could be fairly expensive. The company, Colossal Media Group, was accused of ignoring the law for nearly a decade, having installed dozens of signs of the walls of a landmark, without even so much as getting some sort of permission or permit. They were well aware that they needed permission but chose to disregard that and continued to do what they wanted to do. The owners of the building have been identified as Zvi Mosery and Nat Mosery.

The lawyer for the owners, David H. Singer, said that his clients did absolutely nothing wrong. Singer claims that the clients simply leased out the building and that they had nothing to do with the signs being put up illegally. Instead, Singer says that the clients believed that the signs were, in fact, placed on the building with permission, in a legal manner. Singer also pointed out that by prohibiting signs from being place, landlords will have to raise rent to earn more since they would not be able to do so with the signs anymore.

The signs that were once on the wall of 598 Broadway have officially been taken down. However, there are tons of other advertisements right near it, which includes a vinyl sign on the wall just a few blocks down. There are also a number of different signs that have been painted on the walls of high buildings, which includes advertisements for a popular clothing store, the Hollister Company. Ms. de Bourbon, however, says that these signs are okay because they got permission to do so and because they keep together with the color of the walls and are not overwhelming or bold.