If you haven’t been in Times Square in New York City within the past few decades, it has been transformed into a realm of light and video with every available building and wall covered with electronic billboards advertising products and entertainment. Recently, there has been a concern that the waterways around New York City might be turned into  “floating Times Squares.”

Toward the end of last March, we posted about a  60′ illuminated digital billboard on a barge being towed close to shore on the Hudson and East Rivers. The billboard featured advertising pitching everything from beer to movies to helicopter rides. The company which operated the barge, Ballyhoo Media, considered it to be “the future of digital billboard advertising.” Many New Yorkers considered it to be a nuisance and an eyesore. The City of New York called the billboard barge illegal and filed a lawsuit to shut it down. 

While the lawsuit worked its way through the court system, Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), took more direct action, sponsoring a bill in the Senate to ban the floating billboards. The bill passed the legislature and was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday. 

As reported by the New York Post: Billboards on boats using “flashing, intermittent or moving lights” will be prohibited from operating, anchoring or mooring in the navigable waters of the state, but local governments will still have the authority to ban the vessels from operating, anchoring or mooring within 1,500 feet of the shoreline.

“These floating billboards are a nuisance that blight our shores and distract from the great natural beauty of our waterways,” Cuomo said in a statement. “This action will help make our waters more enjoyable and safer for everyone.”