NYS to end “I Love New York” campaign after being warned of possible loss of federal funding

WIVB 4 News

ALBANY, N.Y. (WIVB) – New York State will end its successful “I Love NY” highway  campaign, the state DOT announced Friday.

The announcement comes after the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration sent a letter Thursday to New York transportation officials saying the state stands to lose $14 million in federal funding for failing to remove the 500-plus “I Love NY” signs.  

The state spent more than $8 million to create and install the “I Love NY” signs in recent years. Federal officials told Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to remove them because they were unsafe, but he refused.

““The overwhelmingly successful ‘I Love NY’ campaign has supported and enhanced New York’s $105 billion tourism industry for five years,” the NYSDOT announced in a statement Friday. “Since the Governor initiated this branding effort, the number of tourists to New York State has increased by 18 percent and the direct economic impact of tourism on the State has skyrocketed by more than 20 percent.”

The current campaign and signs are now entering their fifth year, and the message has “run its useful course”, the NYSDOT statement added.

The state has plans to launch a new tourism campaign with the slogan “New York has it all!”.

“The campaign will have, as usual, comprehensive television and print advertising, as well as new road signage,” the statement said. “Existing materials will be reused but, as the signs will be redesigned for the new campaign, we will consult with FHWA during this process. It will be a new campaign launched for the summer tourism cycle and as such must be concluded before the September FHWA deadline anyway.”

NYS to end “I Love New York” campaign after being warned of possible loss of federal funding

4 thoughts on “NYS to end “I Love New York” campaign after being warned of possible loss of federal funding

  1. “… and the message has “run its useful course”,…”

    Unchallenged.

    It wasn’t right to start with anyway… shoulda been “I love jEW York”.

  2. Both side of the debate are full of dung. “I Love NY” signs do nothing for tourism, and nor are they unsafe.

  3. There new slogan will be “New York has it all”? I want an AR-15 with a pistol grip, flash suppressor, bayonet, and ten 30 round magazines.
    Or I sue for $105 billion. Giving my lawyer $104 billion and I keep 1 billion tax free!

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