UES residents protest gaudy ‘illegal’ signs at Best Buy, Staples – New York Post

They’re getting in the faces of ugly facades.

Teri Slater and Elaine Walsh are so fed up with gaudy storefronts and signs on the Upper East Side that they’ve created a “Top 10 Most Wanted” list to pressure retailers to tone it down.

“We feel like it’s the Wild West over here!” said Walsh, president of the East 86th Street Association. “It’s an environmental clutter, and it’s right in your face.”

The sticklers are targeting Best Buy and Staples, which have illuminated signs and a bevy of flags, PC Richard & Son’s big red canopy, and Subway’s protruding yellow sign — none of which, they say, comply with city law.

J.C. Rice

EAST SIDE IRE: Teri Slater (left) and Elaine Walsh say stores are breaking the law.

Residents say the signage circus is enough to make the Upper East look like Times Square.

“It’s just obscene,” said Slater, a community board member and preservationist. “You want a place where you can have some peace of mind, where you’re not jarred constantly by signage.”

The rules for business signs are foreign to most people and stem from complicated, decades-old city regs. Signage size and placement varies by district — with illuminating or flashing signs banned altogether in some areas.

Department of Buildings spokeswoman Ryan FitzGibbon refused to clarify the rules or provide statistics when reached last week, saying, “I decline to comment on the story.”

Slater and Walsh say the sign pollution boils down to a lack of enforcement.

This year, the Department of Buildings received at least 352 complaints for illegal signs, but only inspected 73 of them, according to city data reviewed by The Post.

That’s why the marquee hunters are working over the stores themselves.

Dunkin Donuts on Lexington Avenue — which has a jolting array of bunting, neon strings and a giant flag — recently pulled some decorations after locals complained to the manager.

“You can’t ask somebody to dig into their pockets because you don’t like the sign,” said Robert Galente, manager of the East 86th Street shoe store Orva. The shop made it to the “Top 10” because its sign is as big as a billboard.

Another target, a Lexington Avenue pizzeria, has big block letters spelling “Pizza” on the facade.

“I don’t think it’s too big — it’s very important to have,” said manager Julio Merino. “They see ‘Pizza’ and want to get a slice.”

Slater and Walsh say recruiting more sign busters may be their only hope.

“Don’t be defeatist,” Slater said. “When you’re coming home from work, you’re tired, you’re not going to call 311. But if we want to change the community, we need your help in doing it.”

Worst Upper East Side sign offenders, according to activists:

1. PC Richard & Son 205 E. 86th St.

2. Best Buy 1280 Lexington Ave.

3. Staples 1280 Lexington Ave.

4. Subway 1256 Lexington Ave.

5. Brookstone 147 E. 86th St.

6. Orva 155 E. 86th St.

7. Pizza 1105 Lexington Ave.

8. First Republic Bank 148 E. 79th St

9. Bank of America 1276 Lexington

10. Hot & Crusty 1276 Lexington Ave.

kbriquelet@nypost.com