BY COLIN MIXSON | Soho locals say they’re living in perpetual daylight thanks to a proliferation of gaudy, illuminated marketing gizmos by Broadway retailers that beam an uninvited glow into neighboring windows at all hours of the night.
Making matters worse, legislation was enacted to curb the noxious advertising schemes employed by local retailers in 2001, but the Department of Buildings — the agency responsible for enacting the provisions — has failed to set the standards necessary to enforce it, and residents feel like they’ve been left swaying in the wind.
“They’re covering their ass,” said Pete Davies, a 36-year resident of Broadway, and member of the ad-hoc community-based organization Broadway Residents Coalition.
Over the past few years, Broadway between Canal and E. Ninth Sts. has seen a sort of marketing arms race, as big-name fashion merchants — including Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole, H&M and Topshop — race to erect bigger and brighter LED displays than their retail rivals, and the problem is only getting worse.
“The retailers just want attention for whatever they’re selling inside, and they get in competition with each other, so it’s spreading,” Davies said.
A new 20-foot-by-10-foot ad for Beyoncé’s new athletic gear is on a continuous video loop at Topshop, and some days is on for 24 hours straight.
“A lot of people come to Soho and see a shopping mall, but to us who live here, it’s our neighborhood,” Sean Sweeney, director of the Soho Alliance, told WPIX News. “The issue is that it’s a Jumbotron. It might be appropriate on Times Square, but not in a mixed-use neighborhood like Soho. Would the advertisers want this near their home, in their front yard? So why are they doing it to Soho residents?”
Adding to the illicit illumination, media juggernaut OUTFRONT Prime has taken to buying up billboards on Broadway and along nearby Broome St., and they’re not shy about letting locals know about it. The company has installed glowing nameplates on each of its newly acquired billboards, providing locals with a few thousand additional lumens worth of sleep-disturbing torment.
In an effort to give community members some peace and darkness, the City Council passed a resolution introduced by former Soho Councilmember Kathryn Freed that requires the Department of Buildings to set standards for illuminated signs and how much light can be cast into nearby windows. The rule specifically applies to residences or artists’ joint living-work quarters in M1-3 manufacturing or C1-8 commercial districts.
It’s 15 years later, though, and those standards still have yet to be set, with the agency citing technical limitations as its excuse for letting the matter slide.
“There are limitations to promulgating a rule to establish what would constitute a reasonable uniform standard that would encapsulate and define a set level of illumination that evidently interferes with the use of a residence or joint living-work quarters for artists in M1-3 or C1-8 districts,” a Department of Buildings spokesperson said.
It’s unclear exactly what those technical difficulties are, but the problem may have as much to do with the legislation’s vague wording as it does with the agency’s physical limitations.
An agency official said the resolution’s wording makes it unclear whether it calls for a citywide standard on illuminated signs, or various standards tailored for specific areas. For instance, he questioned whether Times Square, a commercial area where super-bright lights are actually encouraged, should be held to the same standards as Soho or other residential neighborhoods.
“There’s nothing in place to standardize whether that should be a citywide standard, or should the level of illumination vary from area to area,” the D.O.B. official noted. “Should everything be allowed to operate like Times Square, or should everything be scaled back?”
Meanwhile, locals are caught between the unending glow of local commerce and the city’s indecision — and no excuse is going to help them sleep at night.
“I think it’s called ‘doubletalk,’ ” Davies said. “I don’t know what they’re saying.”
