The art season is about to start up, and I know people want their shows listed on ArtCal, but sending info to ArtCal, James, me, and Paddy asking to be listed is counterproductive. Very counterproductive. Extra demerits if I receive the email at more than one of my personal addresses. Please just sent it to ArtCal to the proper address with the information we request.
Recently in NYC Category
Gov. David A. Paterson, who has made advancing gay rights as central to his policymaking, was greeted enthusiastically at the gay pride parade in New York. James Estrin / The New York Times
Today was the first time a serving New York governor marched in the gay pride parade. He has walked in the parade, on and off, since 1976! I would like to think my headline above just made some conservative idiot's head explode.
From the NY Times:
If there was ever any doubt that gay people form one of Gov. David A. Paterson's most loyal and enthusiastic constituencies, that doubt was erased on Sunday by the howl of a drag queen on Fifth Avenue.
The drag queen, standing at the foot of the steps to the New York Public Library dressed in a green Afro wig, a red miniskirt and candy-cane-striped stockings, had the duty of announcing the notables marching down Fifth Avenue in the gay pride march.
She introduced Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, and the onlookers who had gathered along the parade route politely applauded.
But when she bellowed, "Let's hear it for the governor of New York, David Paterson!" the crowd roared.
...
Sunday was not the first time Mr. Paterson marched in a gay pride parade. He said he attended his first parade in 1976 at the urging of a gay friend and had walked in them on and off ever since.
"Back then, we would march in the back," he said. "But then we learned that wasn't cool because you couldn't hear the music in the back. So we moved up." He added that in those early years, he did not generate quite the same amount of attention from the crowd.
Here is an excerpt from a related NY Times story from two weeks ago.
Gov. David A. Paterson's decision to direct state agencies to recognize marriages of same-sex couples elevated his status in the eyes of many gays and lesbians to something of a celebrity.
But Mr. Paterson has unexpectedly discovered that some of the people who are most grateful to him for issuing the order are, in fact, parents with a gay son or a lesbian daughter.
The governor said in an interview last week that he had been approached by several people who expressed their gratitude. "What struck me were the straight people who came up to me," he said. "This has happened four or five times since. They'll say: 'We're so glad you did this. Our daughter is gay or our son is gay.' I found that to be so very touching."
One evening two weeks ago, while he was having dinner with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, at a restaurant at 105th Street and Broadway, the governor said, a man and a woman approached him, introduced themselves, and then each hugged him. Their son was gay, they told Mr. Paterson, and they wanted to let the governor know how thankful they were about his policy.
...
The one memorable phone call that Mr. Paterson said he received shortly after his order became widely publicized was from the Rev. Al Sharpton, a supporter of civil rights for gay people. Mr. Paterson said Mr. Sharpton called to offer thanks, but also to take a friendly jab at the governor for disclosing that he became comfortable around gay people at a young age because two close Paterson family friends were gay.
"He was calling on behalf of Uncle Stanley and Uncle Ronald, saying I'd be in trouble for outing them," Mr. Paterson said, referring to a gay couple who often took care of him and his brother, Daniel.
A flickr set from our friends at The Occasional Fag. I recommend viewing it on flickr for the captions.
Develop Don't Destroy is encouraging people to show up at the Brooklyn Museum on Thursday, April 3rd, 6:30-8:30pm to protest the museum's choice of honoree for its annual fund raiser: developer Bruce Ratner. He is the developer of the infamous Atlantic Yards project, which has resulted in the use of eminent domain on behalf of a private entity to displace a huge number of people and tear down historic structures such as the Ward Bread Bakery building. Note that the New York Times is now reporting that, despite the billions of subsidies promised so far, the project might be scaled back due to the shrinking bond and credit markets. That won't bring back any buildings or help the people and businesses that have already been forced to move.
If you're interested in some very detailed information on the project and Mr. Ratner, I have pasted below a copy of an open letter from attorney Michael D. D. White that I received via Chuck Yuen and Meredith Allen. This is my favorite paragraph:
Ratner should not be confused with an erstwhile robber baron who did ill a long time ago and is now dispensing funds after the fact to atone and get into heaven. Ratner is doing his damage to the community now and this "honor" from the Museum is a mechanism to further damage the community.
Continue reading Brooklyn Museum to honor Bruce "eminent domain" Ratner.
James and I were at 475 Kent yesterday with others at a protest / vigil as the tenants removed belongings before the building was padlocked. My flickr slideshow of other images is here.
City Councilmember David Yassky was the only elected official I saw in the hour or so we were there. He was good, saying "this is crazy!" and pointing out that the idea of throwing thousands of people in similar situations out of their homes is not an appropriate approach. [Update: In the comments below I am told that "Our State Senator, Assemblyman, a community board member and another community board member were also there. They all spoke at the press conference off to the side of the lockdown."]
Here is the press release from several days ago, and there is a website with a message board too, called 475kent.com.
JANUARY 24, 2008 PRESS RELEASE:
FROM: 475 Kent Tenants AssociationMATZO-GATE
NEW YORK CITY'S ARTISTIC COMMUNITY UNDER ATTACK
The live-work building located at 475 Kent Ave in Brooklyn's coveted waterfront neighborhood of Williamsburg was issued a Vacate Order by the NYC Fire Department on Sunday, January 20th at 7:30PM, the day before Martin Luther King day. Tenants were given until 1:30 in the morning to leave the building on a frigid January night.
475 Kent is a microcosm of New York City's cultural and economic activity with creative professionals generating an estimated $15 million in annual revenue. The vibrant community of 200 working artists - photographers, architects, writers, musicians, sculptors, filmmakers, designers, painters, printmakers, etc. is under attack.
It seems that the D.O B. is intent on making sure people will never be able to return to their spaces until all repairs are made and the building has a residential C of O, a prospect that could take years and millions of dollars. This renders 200 inhabitants most of whom are self-employed, small business entrepreneurs, both homeless and out of work. This building has been consistently and viably supporting creative professionals lives and businesses for ten years. The illegal eviction at 475 Kent comes on the heels of the evacuation of 17-17 Troutman in Ridgewood. That people's livelihoods and homes are being put in complete jeopardy makes one wonder if this is a trend and begs the phrase follow the money.
The events on Sunday night were precipitated when the FDNY inspected the basement of 475 Kent Ave. and discovered two 10' diameter metal canisters containing grain used for making Matzo. The Matzo bakery has been in the building for more than ten years. The DOB and fire department have inspected 475 Kent Avenue regularly for the past ten years and would have had to be blind if they were not fully aware of the existence of a Matzo bakery and the grain. The presence of the grain resulted in a so-called hazardous emergency situation that gave FDNY and DOB license to vacate the building. When some residents and the landlord offered to alleviate the problem and remove the grain from the building on Sunday night the FDNY replied you are not qualified to move the grain. They then issued the vacate order.
What ensued was unmitigated chaos under the direction of our friends at the OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANGEMENT starring the New York City Fire Department, Department of Buildings, NYPD, Health Department, Department of Agriculture and the Red Cross. Their only area of competence was at holding closed-door, inter-agency meetings, in which no tenant representative was allowed, every two hours in their brand new location trailer. How many City agencies does it take to unscrew a lightbulb? We'll let you know, we're still counting.
Upon the issue of the vacate order 200 people scrambled to rid 110 spaces of their most crucial belongings. The following day people were given 6 hours access to remove their belongings, tools and equipment, a scenario that for most people who had been in residence for 5 - 10 years with substantial equipment and installations was completely untenable. From there the scene snowballed. On Tuesday January 22, tenants arrived with moving trucks at 10am having been told they would have another 6 hours access to the building. They found all entrances blocked by NYPD and FDNY and no one was allowed upstairs. Finally, at 1pm the leaders of each agency stood on the staircase and delivered their plan to the crowd:
- residents would be allowed into the building six people at a time for one hour, followed by another group of six people each being granted one hour.
Do the math.
No, we'll do it for you. 200/6= 33.3 hours it would take to allow each person ONE hour access to collect their stuff. Then they shut down the elevators, insuring that the task was impossible. People, in a panic that this would be their last chance to save their belongings, began to carry equipment and valuables down ten flights of stairs, creating a real hazard.
As of Wednesday, January 23, the grain has been removed from the basement of 475 Kent Avenue, alleviating the immediate hazardous condition. Now the tenants have been allowed a final four days, six hours a day, to access the building. On Sunday night, January 27, the building will be padlocked prohibiting all further access for the foreseeable future. Why the building is safe enough to access for four days, but suddenly deemed unsafe again on Monday is a mystery to which DOB, OEM, FDNY has not provided an answer. Although requested repeatedly the DOB has never provided a complete list of the violations on the building. We know one of these violations is an inoperable sprinkler system, a problem that can mitigated with the presence of fire-guards while the system is repaired, allowing continued occupancy of the building.
Since the 1960's New York City's tacit urban renewal policy has been reliant on artist's moving into derelict buildings in less desirable neighborhoods. The city does nothing to bolster or support economic activity in these down and out areas, nor do they do anything to create affordable, legal, usable space for live/work entrepreneurs. 475 Kent is a prime example of this kind of turn-a-blind-eye urban renewal that has been a boon to the City of New York. A decade ago South Williamsburg was a dangerous neighborhood. Once artists take the initiative to live on the edge and restore and renew unused real estate in what were marginal areas the City becomes predatory. The transformation of Williamsburg by the artist community into one of New York City's most desirable neighborhoods encourages the city to move artists out as they calculate the tax revenue of luxury condo developers moving in. No one in any city agency cared about our health and safety ten years ago. Now that our building has become hot property the City is ready to muster all the powers of its many agencies to assist in the muscling of the property from the owners and the tenants. The tenants of 475 Kent Avenue call into question the hypocritical policies being put forth by the agencies of the City of New York. We cannot help but wonder what forces are driving this vacate and why the agencies are suddenly so concerned for out health and safety.
475 Kent Tenant's Association
When I took yesterday's photo, many people on 23rd Street were waiting to be allowed to go east while the police had the area around 23rd and Seventh blocked off for a bomb scare. It's the second time this has happened in 23rd Street this month. The last one was west of Eighth Avenue. I love this comment on a blogchelsea post about yesterday:
We live in an age of paranoia. Suspicious package? We used to call that "garbage."
It appears to me that this is another Duke Riley "event". See my earlier post for more information and compare these photos. The first is from flickr, the second is from WABC.
From today's New York Times article on Suzanne Vega:
TWENTY years have passed since a 27-year-old waif with wide-set blue eyes made it big with her guitar and a song about domestic child abuse. The song was Luka, and it was inspired by a streetwise boy whom Suzanne Vega had seen playing with other children on West 23rd Street, where she then lived, half a block from the Chelsea Hotel.
James has a post on a proposal from The Mayor's Office of Theater, Film, and Broadcasting to make it harder to take photographs or film videos without getting a permit. This reminds me of our friend Donald's suggestion for protest signs saying
City only for use of paying customers
