Section 397-A. Distributing unsolicited advertising on private property prohibited; certain cities

1. In any city  with  a  population  of  one
  million  or more, no person shall place, or cause or permit to be placed
  on  private  property  any  unsolicited   papers,   fliers,   pamphlets,
  handbills,  circulars,  or  other  materials  advertising  a business or
  soliciting business  where  the  owner  has  posted,  in  a  conspicuous
  location,  a  sign stating that the placement of such materials shall be
  prohibited. In a single family dwelling or a  multiple  family  dwelling
  that  is  owner-occupied and is designed for and occupied exclusively by
  no more than three families, any owner of such property shall  have  the
  authority  to  post  such  a  sign.  In  all other multiple dwellings as
  defined in section four of the multiple dwelling law, the property owner
  shall only post such a sign if the owner  or  lessee  of  each  separate
  dwelling unit within the building or on such property agrees to prohibit
  such  solicitations, and any sign posted without the consent of at least
  one unit owner or lessee of each such unit  shall  be  invalid.  In  the
  event that there are one or more units in which the unit owner or lessee
  consents  to  the  prohibition  of  such  unsolicited  advertising,  the
  property owner may instead post a sign designating a particular location
  or an appropriate receptacle  for  the  placement  of  such  unsolicited
  advertising,  and  limiting  the  number  of  such materials that may be
  delivered to the property to an amount equal to the number of  units  in
  which  a  unit owner or lessee has not consented to the prohibition. Any
  such delivery location or receptacle shall be reasonably  accessible  to
  such  unit owners or lessees and to the distributors of such unsolicited
  materials. When such a sign is posted, a person may only leave an amount
  of unsolicited advertising materials that is equal to the number of unit
  owners or lessees indicated on the sign, and  such  materials  shall  be
  left  in  the location designated on the sign. Nothing contained in this
  subdivision shall be  deemed  to  prohibit  or  otherwise  regulate  the
  delivery  of  any  such  matter  by the United States postal service, or
  prohibit the distribution of sample copies of newspapers regularly  sold
  by  the  copy or by annual subscription or sale or coupon newspapers and
  magazines containing more than a  deminimus  amount  of  news  that  are
  published at least weekly.
    2.  To  be valid and enforceable, any sign prohibiting the delivery of
  such unsolicited materials shall be at least five inches tall and  seven
  inches  wide  in  size  and shall state, in legible letters at least one
  inch  in  size,  as  follows:  "Do  Not  Place  Unsolicited  Advertising
  Materials  On  This Property." In a multiple dwelling in which some unit
  owners or lessees have consented to the prohibition of such  unsolicited
  materials,  the  property  owner  may post, in a conspicuous location, a
  sign that is at least five inches tall and seven inches wide in size and
  written in legible letters at least one inch in  size,  identifying  the
  number  of  unit  owners  or  lessees  who  wish  to receive unsolicited
  materials and the location where such materials shall be placed.
    3. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that the person whose name,
  telephone number,  or  other  identifying  information  appears  on  any
  unsolicited  advertising  materials described in subdivision one of this
  section and placed at two or more  premises  shall  be  liable  for  any
  violations of this section.
    4.  The  provisions  of  this  section may be enforced by an agency or
  agencies, as designated by the mayor of such city. A  civil  penalty  of
  not  less  than  two  hundred  fifty  dollars nor more than one thousand
  dollars shall be imposed for each violation of this section, but  in  no
  event  shall  the  total  amount  of such penalty exceed the sum of five
  thousand dollars for the placement of materials on a  single  day.  Each
  unauthorized placement of materials at a single location where a sign is

  posted  as  described  in  subdivision  one  of  this  section  shall be
  considered a separate violation of  this  section.  Notwithstanding  any
  other  provision  of law, any notice of violation issued by an agency or
  agencies,  as designated by the mayor of such city, charging a violation
  of this section shall be returnable to the environmental  control  board
  of  such  city, which shall have the power to impose the civil penalties
  herein  provided;  provided,  however,  that  service  of  a  notice  of
  violation  charging  a  violation  of  this section may be made by (a) a
  means prescribed for service of process by article three  of  the  civil
  practice law and rules or article three of the business corporation law,
  or  (b) by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the respondent's
  last known residence or business address, provided that delivery of such
  notice shall be restricted to the respondent. Service by certified  mail
  shall  be deemed complete upon mailing of the notice of violation unless
  the notice of violation is returned to the sender by the  United  States
  postal service for any reasons other than refusal of delivery. All civil
  penalties  collected  for  any  violations  of  subdivision  one of this
  section that have been imposed by the  environmental  control  board  of
  such city shall be paid into the general fund of such city.
    5.  The  agency  or agencies of such city as designated by subdivision
  four  of  this  section  shall  be  authorized   to   promulgate   rules
  implementing the provisions of this section.