Sandwich Boards and NYC Sidewalk Policy

We have all seen the many signs outside restaurants that advertise coffee and lunch: sandwich boards, or A-frames as they’re sometimes called. We recently got some questions about the laws that govern these advertising signs. Are they legal? Do you need a permit to put them up? How far can they extend onto the sidewalk?

So here goes: the answer is that sidewalk signs are legal and do not require a permit but they must be kept away from any obstruction that could impede pedestrian traffic. The city agency that oversees this policy is the Department of Sanitation (DOS). In the DOS's “Digest of Sanitation Codes” it states that structures for merchandise or advertising displayed on the sidewalk may extend “no more than 3 feet into the sidewalk from the building line and no higher than 5 feet.” And, fortunately for us, Myrtle Avenue is not a “zero sidewalk display” zone, which, if it were, would not allow for any sandwich boards.

To go to the Department of Sanitation’s Digest of Codes, click here. Page 17 discusses Sidewalks & Streets and the sandwich board topic.