A collaboration with Posterchild, riffing on NPA's dubious attempts to skirt third-party sign regulations.

EDIT: (modified from a comment I made on Urban Prankster)

As someone with libertarian instincts, I’m sympathetic to the "It's their property, they can do whatever they want" argument.

However, there are many laws restricting what a landowner can or cannot do with their land, especially in dense urban areas where someone's actions on their property affect a lot of people not on their property. There are many compromises we pay to live around other people, and I expect most people would agree with many of them.

For example, you can’t modify buildings that are deemed historical landmarks, blast loud music at all hours, or release harmful chemicals.

Public advertising isn’t innocuous building decoration; it’s well-funded and highly engineered to modify the way you think. It frames discourse, influences language and behavior, and sets cultural standards and values.

Advertising is POWERFUL, and a city that values its unique history, culture, and culture makers - like NYC - is right to regulate its visual landscape, just like it regulates other gray areas in the realm between public and private.

Third-party sign regulations are already on the books! We’re just asking NYC to enforce its own laws and reap MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in fines in the process.