For the past three years, businesses along Second Ave. have struggled to draw in customers as the MTA digs out its new subway line. Many shops and restaurants have closed while others are barely hanging on. Meanwhile, the state rejected monetary grants for businesses, and a Shop 2nd Ave. initiative hasn’t been as successful as many would hope.
In an effort to attract more customers, earlier this week, a group of business owners and Co-Op residents proposed a modification of the neighborhood’s billboard restrictions. The proposal would have allowed store owners to hang billboards on buildings that are up to 100 feet away from the business entrances. Thus, proprietors could advertise above the construction site.
Community Board 8, however, rejected the measure. “We’ll look like 42nd Street,” Kathy Watts-Grossman, an Upper East Sider, said. “If you cheapen the neighborhood by putting up signage, you can’t take it back.” With few Community Board members willing to trade off some temporary advertising space in an effort to keep businesses alive, Second Ave. store owners will have to keep struggling along. As Richard Bass, a consultant who helped put forward this proposal said, “It’s a trade-off of evils. No one likes to advertise in a residential neighborhood, but no one likes shutting down businesses.”
1 comment
Oh, God.