By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — When all was said and done, the gigantic juiced-up billboards that caused all the fuss in Greenwich Village were reduced to the size of small exercise balls Friday.
Crews came to Equinox gym on Greenwich Avenue to dismantle two sexed-up, illegal billboards that had attracted protests by local preservationists and provoked orders from the city to take them down immediately.
“It was deeply gratifying,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, who lobbied to remove the signs.
“I hope this is indicative of a greater responsiveness we will see from the city.”
The workers took down bolts, frames and ultimately the two large-scale billboards — part of the gym’s “My Body. My Biography” campaign — that depicted active sexy people, and rolled them up into balls to bring to a warehouse.
The Department of Buildings ordered gym owners to take down the signs as they were not approved by landmark authorities in the Greenwich Village Historic District.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission also issued an order late last week that said the owners would face fines of $5,000 a day if the signs weren’t taken down by last Friday.
For locals, the demise of the controversial billboards was mostly good news.
Scott Frosch, whose apartment window looks out on to the gym joked that the billboards were too much temptation for a married man such as himself.
“I’m not dead," Frosch said. "The billboards aren’t bad as far as advertisements go with all the beautiful people.
“My wife and I don’t mind the photos, but this is the Village.”
Greenwich Village Historic District rules require changes to buildings be cleared by the community board and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. But the signs were never even brought before those groups.
Equinox gym member Jon Tomlinson, who lives and works in the West Village, was also happy to see the ads go.
“Anything that blocks the windows in the gym drives me crazy,” he said. “Do you need an enormous billboard? We already know it’s there. Why not put the money into member services?”
Equinox gym owners still face 15 violations from the Department of Buildings relating to the sign. Gym reps wouldn't return calls or e-mails for comment.
But one employee said the billboards generated interest.
“People are definitely coming by to see the ads,” said the employee, who wouldn’t give his name. “I don’t know if it had an impact on membership, but it might have.”
