The process of renting an apartment–and all of the marketing games that go with the rental business–have made more than one Brooklynite want to barf. Now, the keepers of the community garden at Fifth Avenue and President Street are angry about an “intrusive” banner for rental apartments that has sort of become part of their garden. Per a GL Correspondent: “Rental ad banner went up on side of a building that overlooks community garden on 5th and President. They are not taking this offense lightly!” No, they are not. Not at all.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Velvet Sea // Jun 20, 2008 at 11:43 am
it’s a pretty obnoxious spot for a banner. plus i’m pretty sure they had to use the garden to access the wall to put the banner up.
2 mod squad // Jun 20, 2008 at 12:37 pm
any of you clowns hear of the first amendment?
3 Steve // Jun 20, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Anyone who has dealt with Rapid Realty knows they are the sleaziest brokers around. Expect your rent numbers to go up a few hundred at the signing! The owner is some millionaire ,mid twenties brat.
4 ccgh // Jun 20, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Um, this is now illegal in the City of NY. Call 311 and report the building’s owner (address) or call CB6.
5 Ted // Jun 20, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Nothing against a little advertising, but the Rapid guys are the trashiest people you can imagine.
They not only block one lane on 4th Avenue, but also park their $150k Land Rovers on the sidewalk. I am so tired of seeing their shitty banners all over Brooklyn trying to market to low-income non-internet savvy Brooklynites.
The Real Estate school on 5th and 22nd belongs to them as well. Teaching lost kids how to become the next real estate billionaire.
Shady folks…
6 Mike // Jun 20, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Why do I suspect that if the sign was put up by the garden folks, overlooking a business, and the business complained, there would been the much gleeful joy at how they were ‘Sticking it to the man’..
Sheesh. The usual liberal bunch with the ‘Free speech only applies to things I agree with’… Deal with it.
7 Ken // Jun 21, 2008 at 12:26 am
Just recently noticed the sign by the garden. It’s not the greatest thing in the world, but I don’t see how it takes away from the beauty of the garden. It’s on the wall, which does not obstruct anything. I’m not a huge fan of the sign…but people…calm down. It’s just marketing. Would it have been ok if the sign said “Park Slope Loves A Greenthumb”?
8 Rapid Realty // Jun 21, 2008 at 2:11 am
So we received an email which read as follows:
“I am writing in regards to your advertising, specifically the new sign on 5th Avenue & President in Park Slope…
The way you go about advertising is disgusting, tasteless, classless etc. Thanks to you, my corner is now an eyesore with your sign. I am going to make the necessary phone calls to different agencies to put you guys in check.”
—–END OF EMAIL——-
and so we responded with this:
“First of all, we simply are marketing our product. Just like any other business.
What exactly is classless about utilizing outdoor billboard advertisements?
It’s unfortunate that you feel this way about our banner. Our intention was not to be “intrusive” on your garden. All we are trying to do is make the community aware of the services that we provide…Apartment Rental Services. Currently we rent many apartments monthly in your local community. The last thing that we wanted to do was upset the community by posting up a banner.
The owner of this building contacted us through a mutual business relationship and asked if we would like to put up a sign on his building. At first we thought that the location sounded great but the placement of the banner was not as visible as we would wish. Upon thinking about it we decided to post up the banner because we have a presence in the neighborhood and felt that enough passers-by would see it to warrant the expense of having it up. We had a professional sign company hang it up.
I wish that you would have contacted us with a little less hostility and simply told us that the sign is causing problems. I don’t feel that it is necessary to say that our form of marketing is “disgusting, tasteless and classless”. Or to threaten us by saying that you’re “going to make the necessary phone calls to different agencies to put you guys in check”. Why? For advertising on a wall that a local landlord gave us permission to?
Look, obviously you guys hate the sign. We get it. It won’t be an issue. We will take it down as soon as possible. Our goal was to post the banner up for branding purposes…not to upset anyone. We do plenty of business in Park Slope.
We’ve been a member of the community for a long time. We were renting apartments in Park Slope before it was, what it is today. We do feel that brokers like us and other brokers in the neighborhood helped encourage developers, Manhattanites and out of state renters to migrate to the neighborhood prior to it becoming Prime. Playing a role in this has helped us become Brooklyn’s fastest growing and most successful rental company, all the while helping in the development of the local area.
We’re here to service the community any way we can. Our lines are always open for communication. Feel free to get in touch with us. You know our number, just look at the sign while it is still up.”
—-END OF EMAIL—-
The point is, we were simply advertising and had no intent on causing any issues with anyone. But we’re taking the sign down. It’s unfortunate that people may be misinformed about our business. For those that wish to do so, visit our office and see for yourselves that our operation is a big one and we stand by our product and provide a good service.
9 Ben // Jun 22, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I’ve been living in Park Slope for about 14 years now and the reality is that the people that are worried about the sign on the wall @President street are the ones that have nothing better to do but complain! Get a life! It’s only a sign! Greenthumb lovers!
10 Welcome to Brooklyn // Jul 3, 2008 at 3:33 pm
…Believe the hype?
Ah, Park Slope… One of the few places in New York where (SOME) people try to completely ignore the fact that THEY LIVE IN A CITY. Sorry, people, but advertising is a part of life here, and it is rid-ic-u-lous that you are complaining about a (not even that big!) sign (I don’t say “billboard” because it’s about a fifth of the size of a billboard). Like, really, seriously ridiculous.
What really amuses me is that I know – KNOW – that if the sign were designed in a more “Park Slope-friendly” (ie, painfully trendy) manner, or if it were an advertisement for some “green” company (please note: I am 100% supportive of ‘living green,’ and live that way myself), or a hip coffee-shop/yoga studio, or anything else that fits into the bourgeois little box that much of Park Slope has built around itself, this would have been totally welcomed. Wake up, people, the rest of the world does not live like you do.
It’s just a sign – get a grip. Stop ignoring the fact that your perfect little community sits in the middle of the biggest borough in NYC. Or move somewhere else, where you don’t have to worry about signs, or businesses, or anything else encroaching on your (not yours, actually… the city’s, and someone else’s building, apparently) outdoor space.
And really, guys? “Put you in check”? Wow.