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CB2 members demand removal of wheatpaste sidewalk ads tied to Lancome activation in SoHo
Summary
Manhattan Community Board 2 members pressed the Lancome event producer to remove large pink wheatpaste stickers placed across SoHo sidewalks and to coordinate with the Street Activity Permit Office and local BIDs before the activation proceeds.
Manhattan Community Board Two's Street Activities & Resiliency Committee raised objections to unauthorized sidewalk advertising tied to a Lancome Bridal House activation in SoHo, asking event producers to remove large, pink wheatpaste stickers that committee members said had been placed across several blocks.
The committee heard a presentation from Victoria (representing Gradient Experience Inc.), who said Lancome’s pop-up will run multiple consumer days with invite-only events and that event logistics — staffing, rope-and-stanchion crowd control, and curb-lane load-ins — were in place. Victoria told the committee her team would contact the client immediately about the sidewalk paste-ups and would work with the Street Activity Permit Office (SAPO) and local business improvement districts to resolve the matter.
Committee members said the stickers — which several participants described as applied to many curb cuts and sidewalk areas from Canal to Houston — were an unacceptable form of advertising that had not been approved, and they signaled they would not support the permit while the wheatpasting remained. One member said the stickers were “extreme” and asked for them to be removed “first thing.” Board staff and at least one committee member asked the production team to confirm removal of the stickers before the committee would move forward on the sidewalk permit details.
Gradient Experience said the wheatpasting campaign had been handled on the client side and that the production team would ask the client to take the materials down immediately and to avoid sidewalk advertising that contravenes SAPO or BID rules. The presenter also said event staff had been in touch with neighbors and property managers about load-in and that security and sanitation plans had been included in the application.
The committee also flagged a related compliance concern: the production’s use of sidewalk space, sticker removal and whether promotional materials would be removed promptly. Members asked staff to follow up with SAPO and the applicant so that any unlawful advertising was removed and the event footprint and sound/sidewalk permits complied with agency guidance before the committee would endorse the exterior elements.
Next steps: committee staff asked the applicant to remove the unauthorized wheatpaste stickers and to report back to the committee and SAPO; the committee reserved its formal position on the sidewalk elements pending that follow-up. The interior activations and in-venue plans were presented but the committee’s primary outstanding concern remains the unpermitted sidewalk advertising.
