Come To New York: Keep Walking*

Like Budweiser, New York has to keep piling on:

Hoping to turn the Big Apple into a global brand, the city’s tourism office has picked an ad agency for the first time to handle its marketing worldwide.

Independent shop Bartle Bogle Hegarty beat out two other firms — Interpublic’s Lowe and Havas’ Arnold Worldwide, sources close to the review said.

In June, Mayor Bloomberg said the city would set aside an additional $15 million to meet its goal of attracting 50 million visitors a year by 2015. That’s a 16 percent increase from the estimated 43 million this year.

*Sorry, I guess that one has already been used.

Department Of Education Janitor Pants!

Who knows, you might actually like the idea of wearing an official Department of Sanitation cap:

The mayor unveiled a new Web site yesterday — officialnycshop.com — where shoppers can snag all kinds of gear emblazoned with NYPD, FDNY and Sanitation Department logos.

For $14 you can have a “distressed” Sanitation Department baseball cap. An NYPD play set is $14.99 and a Central Park fountain T-shirt is $19.99. Part of the sales go back into Police and Fire Department foundations.

I Don’t Think It’s April 1st Today . . .

There is open speculation that the City may be selling its iconic Municipal Building:

Speculation is heating up that the Municipal Building, the soaring limestone landmark that overlooks City Hall, could be among the government real estate assets to be sold off and converted to residential buildings as municipal employees prepare to move into a new, privately managed office building planned for ground zero.

The Municipal Building at One Centre St., the home of the Department of City Planning at 22 Reade St., and another large office building overlooking Foley Square at 2 Lafayette St. are among the assets whose sale is under consideration, according to a source familiar with the process.

In September, Mayor Bloomberg penned an agreement with developer Larry Silverstein to take 600,000 square feet in Tower 4 at the former World Trade Center site as early as 2013. Mr. Bloomberg said at the time that the city could sell off some real estate assets, which could be developed or converted into residential buildings. Mr. Silverstein has the right to cancel the deal between now and September 2008 if he finds a tenant that would pay more than the city’s offer of $56.50 a square foot a year in rent.

Next Stop On This Pelham Bay-Bound 6 Local Train: Lot Less Closeout-Hunts Point Avenue!

First the Port Authority, then the Mets, and now it seems everyone wants to cash in:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans on talking to Citigroup about changing the current names of two MTA stations: the Shea Stadium stops on the subway and commuter railroad systems, an authority spokesman confirms.

Citigroup will pay the Mets $20 million a year to call the new ballpark Citi Field, and drop the name Shea. The deal was announced last week.

“Obviously, we will be in discussions with Citigroup about naming rights,” MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said.

The MTA hired a team of consultants two years ago to research new ways of raising revenues by entering into “sponsorship” deals with corporations.

MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow then ruled out renaming landmarks like Grand Central Terminal. Citigroup referred questions to Citibank officials. A spokesman said he’d look into the issue late yesterday afternoon but then couldn’t be reached.

How Dare It Openly Mock Those Broad, Unbroken And Ideal Sight Lines!

Everyone agrees that there is more than enough advertising in the city, some of which is actually illegal:

Patience and Fortitude, the lions that guard the New York Public Library, have beheld many things in their 95 years: numberless readers coming and going, great generals and brave troops passing by, legions of marchers celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and Pulaski Day, organized labor and gay liberation.

Now they behold two giant Scotch bottles.

In the sea of advertising that seems to have washed over construction scaffolding around New York City, the new six-story Chivas Regal billboard on 475 Fifth Avenue stands out because it dominates the landscape around the library’s colorful lawns, ample terraces and majestic staircase.

It is also illegal, the city says.

The Department of Buildings inspected the scaffolding this week and found six violations, three involving the sign, which faces Fifth Avenue and 41st Street.

(Wow, after yesterday’s howler, even more totally wacky, out-of-left-field David Dunlap prose!)

This, however, seems like a little bit of an overreaction:

The Institute of Classical Architecture is an educational organization dedicated to fostering the classical tradition, as epitomized by the library. Its office is two blocks from the library. And its president, Paul Gunther, said his blood boiled when he saw the Chivas sign.

“In open defiance of a law still without the teeth of enforcement,” he said in an e-mail message, “these glaring, scaffold-held billboards not only degrade this public — even sacred — space, but openly mock it, as if to announce, ‘Thanks for the broad, unbroken and ideal sight lines.'”

The best part: the violations only carry a $2,500 fine . . .