Times Square is known around the world for its theater, outrageously expensive fast-food cuisine and gargantuan amount of brightly lit advertising. Tourists come from all over the globe to take it in and get suckered by GrayLine buses and walking tours. Retailers pay ridiculous sums to rent space here and it is generally well worth it. The same companies also lay out thousands of dollars a day to paste themselves up above the street with no amount of electricity spared to make the biggest splash. However, one billboard about to go up is going to cut against that grain and go completely green.
From Yahoo News:
The sign is still massive, measuring 126 x 47 feet so it won't look out of place. It'll still be a tremendous step forward in environmentally-sound advertising and a model for the rest of the big boys who spend cash on Times Square space to follow. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll actually head up there to see it, that place is still a complete zoo with or without solar panels and wind turbines.NEW YORK – This winter, New Year's Eve revelers will have a close-up view of Times Square's first environmentally friendly billboard powered entirely by wind and sun.
But the billboard might not be quite as dazzling as some of its high-powered neighbors along the Great White Way.
Construction on the 35,000-pound sign advertising Ricoh Americas Corp. is to begin this month across the avenue from the building where the ball drops on New Year's Eve.
Powered by 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels, the sign is expected to save $12,000 to $15,000 per month in electricity costs. Ricoh, an office equipment and document storage supplier, estimates the sign will also keep 18 tons of carbon out of the environment.
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