NO Flyers Ads Menus

Gowanus Lounge has a post up about the annoying fliers that are distributed in Kohl's bags and have given rise to the plague of "NO flyers ads menus" signs that are zip-tied to brownstone ironwork around the neighborhood. Personally, I don't know which I dislike more, cleaning up the commercial detritus that I routinely find on our doorstep, or seeing the laminated cards affixed to gates. While the flyers are annoying -- and I sympathize with the Red & Black cause -- I find the NO signs to be off-putting and vaguely utopian for people who live in a city like New York and endure the barrage of various media and other nuisances that are part of the lifestyle here.

People might be surprised to know that, as a general rule, there is a First Amendment right to knock on neighbors' doors or distribute flyers, at least insofar as the purpose of the solicitation is not commercial. See, e.g., Watchtower Bible & Tract Soc. of N.Y., Inc. v. Village of Stratton, 536 U.S. 150 (2002). The First Amendment does not protect commercial speech as strongly. And so, in Watchtower, the Court suggested that barring the distribution of only commercial materials (as opposed to the religious and political materials that the town also banned) might be permissible; but I do wonder whether in a neighborhood like Park Slope, there's some civic value inherent to the distribution of local menus and ads (who knows when you might need a good local locksmith?), if not the ads for nationally-advertised chains like Kohl's. (Gowanus Lounge makes the sound point that the closest Kohl's is some distance from the Slope.) Then again, I ordered from a Mexican restaurant who shall remain nameless after receiving one of its menus. Maybe the ban should be enforced.