Neon-Jungle Look May Be Coming to L.A.

The folks who helped turn New York’s Times Square into a neon jungle suddenly have their hands at the switch in Los Angeles.

Van Wagner Communications Inc., the New York firm responsible for most of the pulsating neon signs in Times Square--including a $1-million Coke bottle--Thursday acquired half of the Los Angeles outdoor ad firm Martin Communications. Van Wagner Chief Executive Richard Schaps said he has big plans to light up Los Angeles.

“It won’t be on Rodeo Drive or along the 405 freeway, but there must be a place in Los Angeles where Times Square signage would be appropriate.”

Among possible sites: Near Mann’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

With 4.3 million daily commuters, Los Angeles is often regarded as the outdoor advertising capital of the world.

But large neon billboards are banned in many Southern California cities--including Los Angeles. The Sunset Strip’s famous billboards are often illuminated with strobe lights.

“People come to New York to see the Statue of Liberty and Times Square,” said Schaps. Eventually, he suggested, they may come to Southern California “not just to see Disneyland,” but also his firm’s neon signs.

ne consumer group hopes not. “What’s next?” asked Jill Savitt, spokeswoman for Washington-based Center For the Study of Commercialism, “neon on every street corner?”