Church Sign for "God’s Love" on Landlord's Building Wasn't Advertising

DOB issued violation notices to landlord for failing to get a registration number while engaging in outdoor advertising. The sign on the building’s exterior wall read, “You may not be able to measure God’s love but you can certainly experience it. You are invited. c3brooklyn.com Sundays #c3bklyn.”  Landlord argued that the sign wasn’t advertising, because the local church that it permitted to post the sign wasn’t a commercial enterprise. DOB argued that landlord wasn’t a religious organization and collected rent from the church for using the wall for advertising. The ALJ found that the sign advertised a service, ruled against landlord, and fined it $20,000.

Landlord appealed and won. The ALJ found that the sign advertised a service of religious counseling and participation. But ECB found that nothing in the sign showed that counseling was offered by the church. Offering the public an opportunity to attend and participate in a religious service isn’t a “service.” The Sunday church service noted in the sign was neither a business, a profession, a commodity, a service, nor an entertainment. The website mentioned in the sign provides information about the church, its mission, and its sponsored activities. The sign wasn’t advertising, and the fine was revoked.

200-202 Realty LLC: ECB App. No. 1600644 (8/25/16) [4-pg. doc.]