July 14, 2016 By Michael Florio
The City Council unanimously voted to pass legislation today to landmark the iconic Pepsi Cola sign.
The sign that has been in Long Island City for decades is now an official Queens fixture.
“For almost 90 years, the swoops and swirls of the Pepsi-Cola sign have welcomed visitors to Long Island City and symbolized Queens’s status as an industrial powerhouse,” said Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who has been a strong advocate for the sign to be landmarked.
“Today, after long last, we’ve officially made the sign a New York City landmark, and this staggering piece of pop art will now shine forever across the East River.”
The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) announced its decision to designate the site as a landmark in April, calling the sign “one of the most iconic features of the New York City waterfront, and … an irreplaceable piece of the urban landscape, representing commercial advertising and American industry.”
The application then went to the City Planning Commission, which had 60 days to review the application, and was passed by the City Council by a 43-0 vote.
The LPC’s April decision had been expected since February, after the LPC held a sweeping hearing on nearly 100 properties citywide that had spent decades waiting for a decision from the agency. The Pepsi sign, which sits in front of 46-10 Center Blvd., had been under consideration by the LPC since 1988.
February’s hearing was part of a “backlog initiative” launched last year to address all of these properties. The Pepsi sign and 29 other sites were prioritized for landmark designation and the rest were removed from consideration.
Featured Events
