Hotel Boycott Over Urban Spam

Some of you may remember that we featured a photo of the new billboard site at New York’s Gansevort Hotel the other day, well, now we’ve received news from Wendy Dembo that local businesses are boycotting the hotel in protest. An email being sent round by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation says:

Join the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, local block associations, community groups, elected officials, and area merchants for a demonstration outside the Hotel Gansevoort tomorrow night from 8:30 - 9:30 pm. Bring your friends and neighbors, signs, whistles and other (non-electrically amplified) noise-makers, and spread the word! We will gather in front of the Hotel on 9th Avenue between 13th and Little West 12th Streets. Let them know just how wrong we think these giant, freeway-style billboards are for our neighborhood!

The New York City department of Buildings is still reviewing objections GVSHP has raised regarding the potential illegality of the Hotel Gansevoort billboards. In the meantime, however, in spite of several meetings with the owner of the Hotel and the sign operator, they have refused to take down the signs.

However, a growing number of area restaurants have joined a boycott of the hotel over the billboards, including: Pastis, Balthazar, Morandi, 5 Ninth… the Spotted Pig, Lotus, and Florent. Let them know that you appreciate their taking a stand!

We like the sentiment, but we don’t quite understand how a local restaurant can boycott a hotel. Anyway, more details here.