A Brooklyn landlord is suing the city over a $15,000 fine for placing a Shepard Fairey mural on her building’s wall. The landlord, Jean Sausa, hired Fairey to paint the mural on 556 Driggs Avenue in 2014.

She removed it after the Department of Buildings fined her $15,000. The mural included an image from an album cover for the band Interpol, and the Department of Buildings argued that it constituted illegal outdoor advertising. Sousa contested the fine last year as her attorney argued that the mural was art, not advertising.  The city administrative judge sided with the landlord.

But the city filed an appealed and won in March of this year. That judge determined that the display was an outdoor advertising sign.

Now Sausa is suing.

Insider’s take – with no indication on the mural of the name of the band it looks like an art mural to me.  But the determination can be very subjective as the landlord is discovering as she goes from judge to judge.  You can read more on this subject at The Real Deal and the New York Post.

[wpforms id=”9787″]

Paid Advertisement