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Parks & Public Spaces
Application from EP&M International for “Turismo Venezuela,” a commercial exhibit to promote tourism to Venezuela in Herald Square Park in August 2014
At the regularly scheduled monthly Community Board Five meeting on Thursday, July 10, 2014, the following resolution passed with a vote of 39 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining:
WHEREAS, EP&M International has submitted an application on behalf of Turismo Venezuela (the "Applicant"), for a commercial event in Herald Square Park in August 2014 to promote tourism to Venezuela; and
WHEREAS, The proposed event would consist of a commercial exhibit which will remain visible to the public 24 hours per day in Herald Square Park for the duration of the event, with two bi-lingual representatives to be stationed near the exhibit from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM each day of the event who will provide informational pamphlets and promotional give-a-ways to members of the public; and
WHEREAS, The event will be installed at the southernmost end of Herald Square Park, outside the park gates, in north-south alignment; and
WHEREAS, The Applicant produced a similar event in a public plaza in Buenos Aires, Argentina in April 2014, and intends to present similar events in various international cities during the same days as the proposed event in Herald Square Park; and
WHEREAS, The event will include an LED screen that will play promotional tourism images, but will not include any amplified sound or any additional signage; and
WHEREAS, The Applicant originally proposed that the event take place over seven continuous days in August 2014; and
WHEREAS, After hearing Community Board Five concerns, the Applicant agreed to the following stipulations:
The Applicant will take reasonable measures to ensure that the Exhibit, as constructed and situated in Herald Square Park, does not impede pedestrian views across Herald Square Park, particularly eastward and westward; and
Such reasonable measures shall include, but are not limited to, constructing the Exhibit such that (i) pedestrians may see through the Exhibit in various places, and (ii) the tallest point on each letter in "ven" is no higher than five feet; and
The Exhibit's length will be no greater than twenty feet; and
The LED screen will be turned off after 7:00 p.m. daily, and not turned back on until 10:00 a.m. the next morning; and
The Exhibit design will be symmetrical, with no apparent "back"; (items 1 through 5 above, the "Conditions"); and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five has objections to the proposed duration of the event, as it would interfere with regular park use and pedestrian traffic, and would not enhance the park experience in any way, and believes that the proposed event should be no longer than 48 hours, and not during a weekend; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five has concerns that the event would be purely commercial and lacking any public benefit to local and non-local park users alike; and
WHEREAS, Although the Applicant adjusted its application in response to several concerns of Community Board Five, and agreed to the Conditions above, the Applicant would only agree to an event duration of no less than four (4) days, a duration that is excessively long; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends denial of the application from EP&M International for "Turismo Venezuela," a commercial exhibit to promote tourism to Venezuela in Herald Square Park in August 2014.