On August 1, 2013 U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff denied Vosse’s motion for summary judgment for lack of standing for a content-based discrimination challenge and granted the City’s motion to dismiss. On January 12, 2015 the Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted Vosse’s petition for rehearing on her time, place, and manner argument and remanded the case back to the Southern District. Vosse argued that the City failed to show that the restriction served a sufficiently real and significant governmental interest. The City argued the prohibition on illuminated signs forty feet or more above curb level furthered the government’s interest in preserving neighborhood character and aesthetics.
On November 18, 2015 District Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York ruled for the City and dismissed the complaint with prejudice. The judge ruled that the Zoning Resolution did not prohibit all signs forty feet or more above curb level, but allowed non-illuminated signs twelve square feet in size or less, resulting in a restriction narrowly tailored to achieve the City’s interest and allowing for adequate alternatives to communicate the same message. Had Vosse’s sign been non-illuminated, the judge held, she could have displayed it in the same manner and not been in violation of the Resolution.
Vosse v. NYC, 12 Civ. 8004, NYLJ 1202743491138, at *1 (SDNY, Decided Nov. 18, 2015)