The first eco-friendly billboard is coming to Times Square, entirely powered by the sun and the wind — but there is one small catch. When there’s no sun, and no wind? The $3 million billboard goes dark: there is no backup generator.
The billboard — traditionally called a “spectacular” on the Great White Way — weighs in at 35,000 pounds. It will be 55 feet off the ground at 3 Times Square, wrapping around the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street.
Wind turbines for the vast sign, which is 126 feet wide and 47 feet high, have arrived in a warehouse in Deer Park, N.Y., where preliminary testing is being done. Construction will begin this month, for a lighting ceremony on Dec. 4.
By generating its own electricity — enough to light six homes for a year — the sign could save as much as $12,000 to $15,000 per month, it is estimated that the sign would prevent 18 tons of carbon from being spewed into the air yearly.
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