Downtown Residents Want Borders Sign Off of Landmarked Building Updated April 20, 2011 6:14am

The large Borders sign detracts from the landmarked building at 100 Broadway, residents say. (DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro)

By Julie Shapiro

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

FINANCIAL DISTRICT — The Borders bookstore at 100 Broadway recently closed its doors for good, but its enormous 12-foot-tall sign is still hanging on the landmarked building.

Roger Byrom, chairman of Community Board 1's Landmarks Committee, wants Borders to remove the sign as quickly and as carefully as possible. He said it detracts from the ornate facade of the 115-year-old skyscraper, known as the American Surety Building.

"The concern is that if we don't move quickly, they're not going to remove the sign appropriately," said Byrom, referring to Borders' recent bankruptcy declaration.

The LED-lit sign at 100 Broadway is still in place even though the Borders recently closed. (DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro)

After Byrom raised the issue at a Landmarks Committee meeting last week, the committee decided to send a letter to Borders and to the bankruptcy court asking them to remove the sign.

A Borders spokeswoman said Tuesday that the removal of the sign was up to the building's landlord. A representative of Craven Management Corporation, which controls the building, did not immediately comment.

Before the downtown Borders opened in 2003, CB1's Landmarks Committee reluctantly approved the large, LED-lit sign, even though they felt it detracted from the historic building, Byrom said.

"Back then, we wanted retail down here," Byrom said. "It was more to bring life to lower Manhattan when there was no life."

But now that the neighborhood is booming, Byrom wants to make sure that the space's next tenant does not have similar leeway to install a large sign.

"It's better if we get it down," Byrom said.

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission has official jurisdiction over landmarked buildings and would have to approve any new signage.

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By Julie Shapiro, DNAinfo.com

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