475 Kent Tenants to Bloomberg: Let Us Back In!
In the wake of this week’s meeting with the DOB and FDNY, the tenants of 475 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg submitted a written appeal to Mayor Bloomberg today (cc’ing about every pol in town along with the Mayor of London) to let them back into their homes and workspaces. “As the vacate enacted by the…
In the wake of this week’s meeting with the DOB and FDNY, the tenants of 475 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg submitted a written appeal to Mayor Bloomberg today (cc’ing about every pol in town along with the Mayor of London) to let them back into their homes and workspaces. “As the vacate enacted by the FDNY on January 20th drags on, many of us risk bankruptcy and the complete destruction of the businesses and careers we have spent the last decade building at 475 Kent Ave.,” closes the first paragraph of the letter. Full text on the jump.
DOB, FDNY Deliver Bad News to 475 Kent Tenants [Brownstoner]
475 Kent Avenue: How It All Began [Brownstoner] GMAP
Big Showing From Pols at 475 Kent Vigil [Brownstoner]
Closing Bell: Moving Out at 475 Kent Avenue [Brownstoner]
‘Commune of Creative Types’ in the Burg is Emptied Out [Brownstoner]
February 8, 2008
To:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
Dear Mayor Bloomberg,
The situation for the 200+ tenants of 475 Kent Avenue has become desperate as our livelihoods and businesses are increasingly threatened. Everyday that our work places are shuttered we miss a deadline, lose a client or a contract and fail to make a sale of the goods and services that support our lives. As the vacate enacted by the FDNY on January 20th drags on, many of us risk bankruptcy and the complete destruction of the businesses and careers we have spent the last decade building at 475 Kent Ave.
Whether or not the state of 475 Kent posed immanent threat to human life on the night of January 20th, 2008, it certainly does not today. In fact, our building is safer than most factory buildings in the city. It is of solid fireproof construction, has two means of egress, has working standpipes and Siamese connections, emergency exit lights, fire extinguishers and smoke detectors.
The architectural plans for the building are being filed with the DOB today and the work to rehabilitate the sprinkler system will be underway by next week. We need access to our studios NOW. Upholding the vacate order is unreasonable and is now truly endangering our lives as many of the tenants face financial ruin. What we are headed for now is a real emergency. We have had architectural and fire-safety experts survey our building and they have deemed that it is safe for inhabitants and for fire fighters. Fire Guards are often employed in buildings where sprinkler systems are not in place or are being repaired. We have had Fire-Safety companies report to us that Fire Guards have been used in buildings without working sprinkler systems for up to two years. In case it wasn’t clear, our building is constructed of one-foot thick cast concrete, a non-combustible material.
It is absolutely untenable for us to wait for the completion of work on the sprinkler system to gain access to our studios. Even if this work could be expedited in 3 – 4 weeks (and most estimates put it at 2 – 3 months) we cannot afford to be out of work for a moment longer.
Mayor Bloomberg, we need you to get us back into our studios and back to work NOW. We have architects and fire-safety experts who are willing to file expert opinions regarding the safety of our building. We call on you to do everything in your power to save our businesses and the lives we have built at 475 Kent Avenue.
The Tenants of 475 Kent Avenue
CC:
Kate Levin, Commissioner NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
David Yassky, NY City Council Member
Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President
Joseph Lentol, NY State Assembly
Vito Lopez, NY State Assembly
Martin Connor, NY State Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator NY
Charles Schumer, Senator NY
Barack Obama, Senator IL
Ken Livingston, Mayor of London
“These are wonderfully creative people who contribute to the culture and the economy of New York. When you go to look at museums/galleries you see their works.”
If they actually have talent, they can make money and pay market rent for legal apartments. Nobody gets a free ride because they claim to be an artist.
“After all this time, my theory is the landlord is in cahoots the city/FDNY because the sinister plan is to sell the waterfront bldg to developers.”
Yeah. Ray Kelly, Nick Scopetta and the landlord got together and figured if they built a matzo factory in the basement, piled grain high in giant heaps, and disabled a standpipe, they would have a reason to shut the building down and eventually sell it to a big-shot developer who would convert this dump into high-end condos. Sure. Happens every day!
These are “wonderfully creative people”, some with children, who have illegally rented illegally leased spaces. Of course, no one should have rented them out in the first place, but they did, and these tenants jumped at them. If the tenants can sue the landlord for illegally leasing the basement to a bakery, can’t someone sue the tenants for illegally leasing all of their “creative spaces”?
I’m sorry, but their creativity and cultural contributions do not come into play here. (And this is coming from someone who works in a cultural and creative field, with artists, on a daily basis).
Bloomberg should take heed. Lives are disrupted, some have children, and works of art endangered. I think the tenants should sue the landlord for knowingly leasing the basement for a bakery, which was a hazard. All tenants should also sue for allowing this to happen with gross negligence. These are wonderfully creative people who contribute to the culture and the economy of New York. When you go to look at museums/galleries you see their works. After all this time, my theory is the landlord is in cahoots the city/FDNY because the sinister plan is to sell the waterfront bldg to developers. You’re talking big moolah for this property, so what if the landlord pays the fine, it’s worth it. Besides, reporting violations seems the snickiest way to get rid of illegal tenants in 24 hrs pronto, what would take years in court. I know you’re gonna say blah, blah, blah, but just want what we want.
All those creatives and not one editor/proofreader in the bunch?
I felt sorry for them when this happened but now I just plain old despise them. Get over it, all of you decided to rent in an illegal building and now want specail treatment and cc’ing every Tom, Dick, and Harry? Lame.
They forgot to cc Queen Elizabeth. It was probably just an oversight…
A letter to Bloomberg….oh yeah, that’ll work. Good thing the authors CC’d Obama and Hillary, but they somehow forgot Michael Strahan and Alan Cumming!
FYI, if you plan to write to the mayor (and assorted global elected officials) to ask for special treatment now that the building you have occupied illegally has been shut down for safety reasons, should probably spell “imminent” correctly.
Wonder if Clinton or Obama will have any response? There’s an opportunity for either of them to win some votes!