The BQE Financial Soundness Indicator (BQEFSI)

After driving to Staten Island and taking pictures of every empty billboard along the way this weekend, I posited a theory that the number of empty billboards could somehow be a leading indicator of the US economy's financial soundness--or something. I calculate the BQEFSI by dividing the number of miles from the Queens border to the end of the Gowanus Expressway (approximately 8 miles) by the total number of empty billboards (14) in both directions. That puts the BQEFSI at .5714. I don't want to alarm anyone, but that's the lowest we've seen it since I started keeping records.




Below: Below the little mermaid sign, there are 3 (one is not visible) illegal billboards for lease on that building.