Kodak Times Square Billboard – Say Goodbye?

Kodak Sign in Times Square - © copyright - www.NewYorkled.com. Image can be freely used for editorial purposes as long as New Yorkled is credited. Other Full Sized images to come. Stay tuned...

Contrary to what many folks know or appear to believe, Kodak is alive and quite possibly well depending on whom you ask. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the grandly iconic billboard which bares the Kodak name at New York City’sTimes Square area in front of the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

Eastman Kodak which filed for Bankruptcy Protection on January 19, 2012 is still going through all the motions of corporate reorganization. There’s no doubt at least in our minds that Kodak will make it through the process, albeit a bit smaller than the great company it once was.

Yet earlier this year Kodak sought and won Bankruptcy Court approval for removing its name from the Los Angeles Kodak Theatre. A contract which was costing the company multitudes of millions of dollars. Unfortunately the fat trimming doesn’t end there. On Wednesday, April 4, 2012 Court Papers demonstrated the company’s request to reassign its lease for the 40′ Times Square Billboard to OBM (Orange Barrel Media). If approved, the company would receive $3.7 million from OBM in exchange ‘for the entry of an order authorizing the assignment of the Billboard Lease to OBM’. The scheduled first hearing for this will be April 16.

Yours truly has always had an immense soft spot for this 131 year old company. A once Great American Icon which seeks to continue its greatness. But being a dedicated New Yorker it’s with sadness I bare this information. Although I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t seen it coming. In the coming days and weeks New Yorkled will be providing one and all with free downloads of this specific part of Times Square. That is, images which feature the Kodak Sign. I’ll try my best to keep you folks updated with what’s going on in this regard and will let you know each time another image is available. Stay tuned and be well.