By Dan Murphy
Stew Leonard Jr., CEO of the Stew Leonard’s grocery stores, including its best-selling store in Yonkers, recently spoke out about the I Love NY signs, which have been placed across New York State but are also the subject of a $14 million fine by the Federal Highway Administration.
New York State was notified as early as 2014 about the fact that the signs contained too much information and violated federal highway rules on what can’t be placed on signage along roadways, specifically that the promotion of a web address or a mobile application can’t be on the signs.
Now, several months later, the signs are still posted throughout the state, with the fines pending. Recently, six upstate New York Republican congressmembers urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo to remove the controversial “I Love New York” signs.
Stew Leonard Jr. has since offered to take the signs off the state’s hands and display them in his farm-fresh supermarkets, and urged the state to not let these iconic and colorful blue signs go to waste. Leonard, who sells locally grown produce and goods, said he wants to recognize and honor the hundreds of New York farmers who supply produce, dairy and meats, by displaying these signs for everyone to see.
Stew Leonard’s is supplied by 100 tri-state-area farms and sells milk from an upstate New York dairy.
Leonard said he wants to take the politics out of loving New York and give these signs a legal, and permanent home. It is unclear whether he wants to take the signs off the state’s hands for free, or is willing to pay for them.
Regardless, it is a good idea and proposal from Leonard, who is trying to make a good ending to a bad situation.
Cheers to Stew Leonard. We love your Yonkers store. It is a unique place to go shopping, and my daughter when she was young loved to go through the store and see the interesting displays and play in the small farm on site.
Following is some more background on the I Love NY sings, from a story we wrote back in February of this year:
In 2014, New York State began placing I Love NY signs, in an attempt to promote and highlight local historical spots and tourist destinations for travelers on the New York State Thruway and other state highways.
The signs feature a large blue and white backdrop with the state program, the website and the app, followed by four signs featuring local restaurants, historic locations and tourist attractions.
In total, 514 of these signs were erected, and by July 4, 2016, most of the signs were up using emergency contracts to hire the vendors and pay overtime to put them up on the Thruway. It is interesting to note that our state government did not hire a vendor from New York State to create the signs.
In total, $8.1 million of NYS taxpayer dollars was spent on them.
Earlier this year, the NYS Department of Transportation explained that the sings would be removed and replaced with new signs that comply with federal guidelines.
“As the current campaign and signs are entering their fifth year, this message has run its useful course and we already plan to launch a new I Love NY campaign this summer to support our tourism industry,” said the DOT. “The new campaign will be ‘NY has it all!’ The campaign will have, as usual, comprehensive television and print advertising, as well as new road signage. Existing materials will be reused but, as the signs will be redesigned for the new campaign, we will consult with FHWA during this process. It will be a new campaign launched for the summer tourism cycle and as such must be concluded before the September FHWA deadline anyway.”
Hopefully the signs will be removed by the September deadline so that New York taxpayers don’t have to pay the $14 million fine. And, hopefully, they will be put to good use at Stew Leonard’s!
