On Thursday, Sen. Jamaal Bailey and Assemblymember Michael Benedetto signed a new bill that will ban digital billboard near Mitchell-Lama Housing.  

The new law “prohibits digital billboards or signs using flashing, intermittent, or moving lights within fifteen hundred feet of Mitchell-Lama housing with no fewer than ten thousand units in cities with a population of one million or more,” according to the release.

High intensity lights from electronic billboards pose serious health concerns, including headaches, eye strain, fatigue and disrupted sleep patterns.

"This isn't the place for digital billboards,” says Sen. Bailey. “I understand you need to advertise, but certain places just aren't good for certain types of advertising and that’s the reason we introduced the legislation." 

The law will go into effect 60 days after it is signed. Violations will incur $1,000 in penalties for the first offense and $5,000 for subsequent violations.