Whoring Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Queens Plaza may not be suitable for strip clubs but it’s perfect for oversize advertisements masquerading as “iconic” signage:

Despite some push back from Community Board 2 at its last monthly meeting, the airline JetBlue said it is confident the city will pass a zoning amendment to allow it to install a 40-foot sign at its new headquarters in Long Island City’s Queens Plaza.

“JetBlue is proud to be New York’s hometown airline,” said Bryan Baldwin, spokesman for JetBlue, in an e-mail. “We would like to be part of the iconic skyline of this great city.”

Baldwin said the airline’s new sign will be a back-lit version of its company logo. It will be on the top of its new headquarters at the Brewster Building, at 27-01 Queens Plaza N., where it plans to move almost 1,000 employees later this year.

“It is not a billboard-type sign and is very in keeping with Long Island City’s industrial history and other existing signs in the neighborhood, including the iconic Silvercup and PepsiCola signs,” he said.

Let’s be clear: The Silvercup and PepsiCola signs are vestigial reminders of the area’s industrial past. That they’re still there is a testament to both our culture’s gooshy sentimentalism in general and Long Island City boosters’ desire not to look like Jersey City. The JetBlue sign is strictly an advertisement. And with the people in charge bending over backwards to entice the company to stay in New York, they were obviously able to offer them something Orlando couldn’t: A big billboard that hundreds of thousands of people could see every day. Which is fine — whatever — but spare us the “iconic” approach because, frankly, the sign is ugly and the lack of a space between “Jet” and “Blue” is annoying.

Location Scout: Queens Plaza.

Milton Glaser’s Secret Police Have Come For Those Knockoff Ts

If you are uncomfortable with the NYPD spying on any one or thing just because he or it is vaguely connected to Islam, then maybe you’ll feel better that they have also become rather efficient trademark enforcers:

[. . . A] police officer for Manhattan South’s Peddler Task Force, stressed that the onus is on the merchants to make sure they’re receiving the merchandise from legitimate distributors.

“These particular arrests are based on observation . . . and by that time, the crime has been committed already,” said [the officer]. “Unfortunately, the fact that you don’t know an item you’re selling is counterfeit is not a defense or excuse to the Police Department.”

In order for the cops to enforce the law, Rovio, Gucci, and all the other brand-named companies are responsible for training them on the unique traits of their merchandise.

“We don’t make arrests on trademark counterfeit unless we have a complaint [from the brand-named company],” explained [a lieutenant].

And like what happens so often, what starts out as an inspired idea quickly devolves into a cheap way to score some easy collars:

[One vendor] said it’s unfair that vendors are suddenly being arrested for selling items they’ve been selling for years, such as the “I love New York” t-shirt and magnets. “I think the arrests are so simple for the policemen — it’s like a game [for them],” he said.

Earlier: The Fake Prada Window Shopping Theory Of Policing.

Whatever Puts Butts In Seats . . .

It takes creativity to foster the next generation of museumgoers:

This spring the venerable New York Historical Society’s Saturday Academy will offer a series of free courses meant to bring history alive for young people. The series, which also includes free SAT prep for students in grades 10 – 12, runs from March 10 to April 28.

In the hip-hop class, called “Hip-Hop In Context,” students will listen to pivotal songs like “Cop Killer” by Ice-T’s 1990s group Body Count [. . .]

The truly sad thing is that the heavy metal crossover of Body Count was actually pretty terrible . . .

In Which The NYPL Reading Room Resembles A Cafe At Borders

I don’t imagine this is quite what the NYPL had in mind when they announced that there will be a ‘witchcraft inside the main branch, but it’s an amusing thought:

“It’ll be nice to grab a book off the shelf and eat.”

Location Scout: NYPL Main Branch.

Car-Free Fridays Do So Much Good: They Get Neighbors Out To Meet One Another, They Allow Children To Roam Unfettered Without Fear Of A Truck Running Them Down . . .

. . . but as for confounding popular stereotypes, that’s probably a stretch:

A Bay Ridge civic panel approved a controversial proposal for the Third Avenue “Summer Stroll” on Monday, but not because it would have been a boon for area businesses — it did it to show up the back-stabbing broads in “Brooklyn 11223” a show residents believe will give Bay Ridge a bad name.

“We’re going to show them this isn’t ‘Brooklyn 11223,'” said […] a member of the Third Avenue Merchants Association and longtime proponent for the Stroll, where Third Avenue between 81st and 89th streets will be transformed into an open air “piazza” four Fridays in a row starting July 20.