The famous Pepsi-Cola sign from Long Island City changes its look and leaves a lot of bad taste



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LONG ISLAND CITY, Queens (WABC) – An iconic sign in Queens has a new companion.

The famous Pepsi-Cola signage located along the East River in Long Island City now shares its historic space with the illuminated JetBlue logo.

This is a promotion that will continue over the coming months as part of the new partnership, but it leaves some with a bad taste in the mouth.

"Our neighborhood and the national park have given this space to Pepsi, so they should keep it a secret," said Lily Arkin, a resident of Long Island City.

Some locals are not happy and even contacted councilman Jimmy Van Bramer about it.

"The problem here is that it has been approved at the staff level without any review or input from the community," Van Bramer said. "And it's just inappropriate for this place."

They say that they do not like playing with a piece of the history of the borough.

"They found it," said Luis Barr, an employee of the area. "It's a landmark, it's part of the story, the kids grew up … no, they should take it off."

The two New York-based companies accepted this highly publicized promotion after JetBlue began serving Pepsi on its flights in early June. An officer of the company said Pepsi had not received any money for adding the airline to this iconic sign, and said it was a one-time contract.

"As a preferred partner, JetBlue now being part of the Pepsico family and our family, it's something special that we wanted to do especially for them," said Nancy Rooney of Pepsico. "While we've been thinking about some negative feelings, we think that this really comes from a place of love." People like this sign and want to protect it, and we are proud of that. "

The city granted road sign status three years ago, and while many people are not happy with the latest change, some people said they did not care.

"It's for a month," said Joe Vadnos, a resident of Long Island City. "For a month we can live with, they want to advertise, have some public relations."

There is still a part of the JetBlue addition to climb: an airplane hat will fill this empty spot just to the left of the clouds. According to the plans, the official lighting of the sign will take place on Thursday at sunset.

"We know that people like Pepsi-Cola's Long Island City brand, which happens to be also JetBlue's home," JetBlue said in a statement. "It's a living monument of the Pepsi brand and the city of New York. That's why we think it's the perfect symbol to celebrate our partnership. This is a temporary installation and signage will return to its original state on October 1st. PepsiCo has worked closely with the Historic Monuments Preservation Commission, the Queens West Development Corporation and Landmark Signs to ensure that the integrity of the store is carefully preserved throughout this initiative. . "

This is the first time that another logo accompanies the Pepsi sign.

The Landmark Preservation Commission issued the following statement:

"The LPC rules allow the installation of temporary signs on historical sites up to 180 days." LPC found that the temporary installation of JetBlue light panels on the Pepsi Cola board complied with the rules of the Commission on Temporary Facilities and issued a permit on August 14, which will expire on October 1, 2019. See Permit Here To ensure the removal of temporary signage, and in accordance with the rules, LPC needed an escrow contract. "

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