‘Piano District’ Billboard Has Been Replaced
DNAinfo
By Eddie Small
SOUTH BRONX — The controversial billboard that rebranded part of the South Bronx as the Piano District has been taken down, but developer Keith Rubenstein is still moving forward with plans to help open a coffee shop, art gallery and design studio in the neighborhood.
The advertisement by the Third Avenue Bridge and Bruckner Boulevard which once proclaimed that luxury waterfront living and world-class dining would soon arrive in the South Bronx was taken down in response to community concerns and is now hawking Enlightened, a brand of ice cream.
The Piano District billboard was extremely contentious, as it embodied many of the fears that South Bronx residents have about gentrification coming to their neighborhood and pricing them out.
Locals voiced their disappointment with the sign using the hashtag #WhatPianoDistrict, and the billboard was defaced with three splotches of paint as well.
