Pepsi-Cola sign receives landmark designation

Flickr/nuno luz

It’s official.

The Pepsi-Cola sign along the Long Island City waterfront is officially a New York City landmark.

The New York City Council voted unanimously (43-0) for the sign’s designation. It spent 28 years on the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC)’s backlog before the commission voted for it this spring.

The sign has been an important part of western Queens’s waterfront for 90 years.

“For almost 90 years, the swoops and swirls of the Pepsi-Cola sign have welcomed visitors to Long Island City and symbolized Queens’s status as an industrial powerhouse,” said Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer. “Today, after long last, we’ve officially made the sign a New York City landmark, and this staggering piece of pop art will now shine forever across the East River.”