The planned sign (JetBlue).
Thanks to some sweet tax breaks, JetBlue is staying in the Big Apple and moving to Long Island City. But when they move into their new home next month, they’d really like to make sure nobody misses it. So the company is working the community boards trying to get approval for a giant, 40-foot sign above their 27-01 Queens Plaza North headquarters. You can guess how that is going.
To get the sign—which should be visible from Manhattan—put up though, the airlines needs to see some rules updated for what kinds of signs can go up around Queens Plaza, and that is causing them some headaches.
“We don’t want the honky-tonk look,” Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley said at a meeting in which the board backed the sign request in particular but still voted against the resolution for fear of turning the area into a new Times Square.
But this being a company the city worked hard to keep, the sign will probably eventually get a green light and rise above the airlines’ 8-story new headquarters. “I support the deal that brings JetBlue and its employees to Long Island City. I will support JetBlue’s zoning amendment in the City Council. JetBlue is a great get,” Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer assured the Post.
Still, we wonder, between the sign and all the pedestrian work being done around Queens Plaza, is the community board right? Can giant ad screens and naked cowboys be far off?
