§ 397-A — Distributing unsolicited advertising on private property prohibited; certain cities

§ 397-a. Distributing unsolicited advertising on private property\nprohibited; certain cities. 1. In any city with a population of one\nmillion or more, no person shall place, or cause or permit to be placed\non private property any unsolicited papers, fliers, pamphlets,\nhandbills, circulars, or other materials advertising a business or\nsoliciting business where the owner has posted, in a conspicuous\nlocation, a sign stating that the placement of such materials shall be\nprohibited. In a single family dwelling or a multiple family dwelling\nthat is owner-occupied and is designed for and occupied exclusively by\nno more than three families, any owner of such property shall have the\nauthority to post such a sign. In all other multiple dwellings as\ndefined in section four of the multiple dwelling law, the property owner\nshall only post such a sign if the owner or lessee of each separate\ndwelling unit within the building or on such property agrees to prohibit\nsuch solicitations, and any sign posted without the consent of at least\none unit owner or lessee of each such unit shall be invalid. In the\nevent that there are one or more units in which the unit owner or lessee\nconsents to the prohibition of such unsolicited advertising, the\nproperty owner may instead post a sign designating a particular location\nor an appropriate receptacle for the placement of such unsolicited\nadvertising, and limiting the number of such materials that may be\ndelivered to the property to an amount equal to the number of units in\nwhich a unit owner or lessee has not consented to the prohibition. Any\nsuch delivery location or receptacle shall be reasonably accessible to\nsuch unit owners or lessees and to the distributors of such unsolicited\nmaterials. When such a sign is posted, a person may only leave an amount\nof unsolicited advertising materials that is equal to the number of unit\nowners or lessees indicated on the sign, and such materials shall be\nleft in the location designated on the sign. Nothing contained in this\nsubdivision shall be deemed to prohibit or otherwise regulate the\ndelivery of any such matter by the United States postal service, or\nprohibit the distribution of sample copies of newspapers regularly sold\nby the copy or by annual subscription or sale or coupon newspapers and\nmagazines containing more than a deminimus amount of news that are\npublished at least weekly.\n 2. To be valid and enforceable, any sign prohibiting the delivery of\nsuch unsolicited materials shall be at least five inches tall and seven\ninches wide in size and shall state, in legible letters at least one\ninch in size, as follows: "Do Not Place Unsolicited Advertising\nMaterials On This Property." In a multiple dwelling in which some unit\nowners or lessees have consented to the prohibition of such unsolicited\nmaterials, the property owner may post, in a conspicuous location, a\nsign that is at least five inches tall and seven inches wide in size and\nwritten in legible letters at least one inch in size, identifying the\nnumber of unit owners or lessees who wish to receive unsolicited\nmaterials and the location where such materials shall be placed.\n 3. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that the person whose name,\ntelephone number, or other identifying information appears on any\nunsolicited advertising materials described in subdivision one of this\nsection and placed at two or more premises shall be liable for any\nviolations of this section.\n 4. The provisions of this section may be enforced by an agency or\nagencies, as designated by the mayor of such city. A civil penalty of\nnot less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than one thousand\ndollars shall be imposed for each violation of this section, but in no\nevent shall the total amount of such penalty exceed the sum of five\nthousand dollars for the placement of materials on a single day. Each\nunauthorized placement of materials at a single location where a sign is\nposted as described in subdivision one of this section shall be\nconsidered a separate violation of this section. Notwithstanding any\nother provision of law, any notice of violation issued by an agency or\nagencies, as designated by the mayor of such city, charging a violation\nof this section shall be returnable to the environmental control board\nof such city, which shall have the power to impose the civil penalties\nherein provided; provided, however, that service of a notice of\nviolation charging a violation of this section may be made by (a) a\nmeans prescribed for service of process by article three of the civil\npractice law and rules or article three of the business corporation law,\nor (b) by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the respondent's\nlast known residence or business address, provided that delivery of such\nnotice shall be restricted to the respondent. Service by certified mail\nshall be deemed complete upon mailing of the notice of violation unless\nthe notice of violation is returned to the sender by the United States\npostal service for any reasons other than refusal of delivery. All civil\npenalties collected for any violations of subdivision one of this\nsection that have been imposed by the environmental control board of\nsuch city shall be paid into the general fund of such city.\n 5. The agency or agencies of such city as designated by subdivision\nfour of this section shall be authorized to promulgate rules\nimplementing the provisions of this section.\n