Showing posts with label John Penley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Penley. Show all posts

Saturday, April 6, 2013

At last evening's Ben Shaoul 'meeting' on Broadway



As reported earlier in the week, longtime East Village activist John Penley was planning a weekend-long campout at the offices of developer Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate on Broadway. However, those plans changed, from a weekend-long campout to what Penley said would be "a meeting about the situation especially about others affected by Shaoul and his sledgehammer."

From these photos, via Facebook, you can see that several people joined Penley in front of the Magnum offices on Broadway just below Houston...



The NYPD was on the scene, though we're unaware of any actions that they may have taken again Penley and company...





At 9 p.m., Penley planned to stop by the former the former PS 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street to protest developer Gregg Singer's plan to turn the building into a dorm. We hope to have more on that later.

As for the "sledgehammer" nickname, that dates back seven years... you can read background at Curbed and The New York Times.

Previously on EV Grieve:
John Penley changes plans for weekend campout at Ben Shaoul's office; gentrification meeting instead

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

John Penley plans campout at Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate offices this weekend

Longtime East Village activist John Penley is set to campout this weekend outside the offices of Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate on Broadway in Soho. (Set to start at 5 p.m. Friday.)

Per the Facebook invite:

SHAOUL AND HIS REAL ESTATE COMPANY HAVE BEEN AN EVIL CORPORATE REAL ESTATE WRECKING AND GENTRIFICATION CREW IN THE EAST VILLAGE. THE WORST OF THE WORST !!!!

While Shaoul has been a widely criticized developer in the East Village for years, the recent revelations about actor-poet-writer Taylor Mead's living conditions were the impetus for this event.

Articles in The Villager and the Post and at BoweryBoogie have outlined the 88 year old's current living conditions while the Shaoul-owned building on Ludlow undergoes a gut renovation. (Mead, a former Andy Warhol star, had lived in the rent-stabilized apartment for 34 years and didn't want to leave.) According to the account in the Post, "Plaster falls from his walls and roaches crawl up his legs. The kitchen sink doesn’t work."

"It’s going to kill him,” said Clayton Patterson, a neighborhood activist and longtime friend. “This is elderly abuse. It’s pretty Third World when you think about it."

As Curbed put this particular episode, Shaoul is "up to his old tricks. Or, more specifically, his old trick — forcing stubborn, rent-stabilized tenants out of the apartments he owns by having their buildings demolished around them."

Penley had this to say to us via a message on Facebook:

"I am demanding at the protest that he give Taylor a renovated ground-floor apartment in Taylor's building rent free for the rest of his life and provide Taylor with home-care assistance. He just made so much cash speculating and flipping buildings on the LES that doing something humane like I suggest he do would be a very small gesture."

Shaoul has recently sold large parcels of his East Village buildings to developer Jared Kushner. Shaoul is currently converting the former Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation on Avenue B and East Fifth Street into residences.

Penley recently held a campout to call on NYU to help house the homeless.

Friday, March 1, 2013

At John Penley's NYU protest

This afternoon, longtime activist John Penley started his campout to call on NYU to help house the homeless.

Bobby Williams stopped by to see what was happening...





John Penley-led protest will call on NYU to help house the city's homeless

Longtime activist John Penley is staging a campout at NYU starting this afternoon at 4 to call on NYU to help house the homeless.

"There have been almost no street protests about housing in so long someone has to do it," he wrote on Facebook.

He will be stationed at Washington Square South, and hopes to sleep on the Judson Church steps at night. During the day, Penley said that plans to be in front of Bobst Library where he'll try to educate students about the issues of housing and homelessness.

Per the Facebook invite:

"I plan to ask NYU students to get involved in Housing for homeless and low-income people. I also plan to ask the University, which has built for-profit dorms all over the place, to build one building for poor and low-income people who are displaced by the gentrification NYU heavily contributed to."

A group of speakers, including Penny Arcade, Randy Credico, Joan Moossy and Frank Morales, are among those who are expected to join Penley this afternoon at NYU.

In 2009, Penley, a Navy veteran who is currently homeless, donated his extensive photo collection to the NYU Tamiment Library. (Find the photos here.) Penley said that he plans to take activists inside Bobst to show them the Tamiment Library.

Per an article in The Villager last week:

He hopes to maintain the campout for a month, but recently aggravated a back injury when his car was rear-ended while he was driving in North Carolina, so doesn’t know if he’ll be able to last that long. Rumor has it he may also go on a hunger strike.

"It's not going to look good if NYU arrests me," he told The Villager, "because they have my photo archives in there."

[Photo of Penley via Facebook]

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Reminders this weekend: Occupy Tompkins Square Park

[Photo by Paul DeRienzo via Facebook]

As you may have heard, there are are plans, spearheaded by John Penley, for a peaceful demonstration starting with a picnic in the Park at noon today... Via Facebook, I asked Penley last night if the rally was still a go. "Hell yes."

He left this comment on the previous Occupation thread:

"People will be at the park at noon. Some will be leaving for Times Square and some will not. It is my understanding that Judith Malina and the Living Theater will lead a march from Times Square to Union Square and then on to Tompkins Square. Anyone who can bring food to share, drums, musical instruments, art supplies anything else you can think of to make this a fun and noisy but peaceful occupation."

Meanwhile, did you notice that park officials put up new signs around the Park pointing out the curfew...?

[Dave on 7th]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Occupy Tompkins Square Park (119 comments)

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Occupy Tompkins Square Park this weekend


Demonstrators from Occupy Wall Street will be headed to the East Village on Saturday. John Penley is organizing this event set to start Saturday at noon and end Sunday at noon. Via Facebook:

Picnic starts at noon. General Assemblies at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Bring food, sleeping gear, drums, guitars, banners, signs and your friends. In memory of Monica aka Catherine Shay, Bob Arihood and Terry Taylor [the homeless Tompkins Square activist who died in 1994].

"I talked to about 100 people from the neighborhood at Zucotti Park [Sunday] and they were all thinking about the same thing and immediately said, 'Hell yes let's do it,'" Penley told me via Facebook.

Also, Penley said, the presence of the protestors will draw attention to the Park's legacy of activism.

“One of the reasons that we want to do this is to educate the new people living in the neighborhood about what went on in Tompkins Square Park in the '80s and the '90s, and the police response to it,” he told Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo.

Planning meetings for Occupy Wall Street were held in Tompkins Square Park in August.

More details later this week...

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

[Updated] A recap of Saturday night's protest at the BMW/Guggenheim Lab

[Photo by Steven Hirsch]

On Saturday night, I posted some photos by Bobby Williams of the "Let Them Eat Cake/Eat the Rich/No Comfort Zone street party." (The comments section is still smoldering.)

In any event, here are some links that offer more of a narrative of what happened that evening. Bob Arihood has posts from the three stops on the tour: the Economakis Dream Mansion ... the BMW Guggenheim Lab ... and Mars Bar.

Goggla has a nice summary here. Including video.

Marty After Dark was around for the Mars Bar portion here.

Gothamist had a summary post here.

From a distance anyway, the most interesting part of the evening came when the group — 25 strong or so — arrived at the BMW/Guggenheim Lab near closing time. I've heard several variations of what happened. This isn't everything that happened, just a brief summation.

Several people spoke out about the history of class warfare in the East Village and why the BMW/Guggenheim Lab is a self-congratulatory project for a few and doesn't address the needs/talents of the community at all, as Goggla put it. A sober LES Jewels read a poem. Unfortunately, at this time, there wasn't much of an audience, save a few Lab administrators and curators.

[Photo by Gil Robichaud]

Rob Hollander, who arrived just after the demonstrators entered the space, described the reaction this way: "I would not call it 'friendly,' but maybe 'acquiescent.'" Those in attendance said that the Lab curators stuck close by to prevent the Guggenheim from inciting an incident that might have brought them ugly press.

According to witnesses, the only time things got heated occured when John Penley lit a cigarette. One administrator reportedly yelled at Penley to put out the cigarette; that the Lab is on Parks Department land and smoking is illegal in city parks. Several other people in the group also lit cigarettes. One of the curators was said to whisper something in the administrator's ear. She then left the immediate area.

And, thanks to Goggla, we have some video. (She has more here.)



I asked Penley on Sunday for his thoughts on his reception to the Lab/Community Center.

"The management was angry and and didn't listen to what we said. They were typical of people in authority who, when confronted, ignore you but look pissed off since they couldn't call the cops, which I asked them to do because the publicity would be bad for them. They let it go. The workers loved it."

As Rachel Pincus reported for Gothamist:

"The Lab itself greeted the protest with a mixture of appreciation and utter annoyance, sympathizing with its cause but finding its aggressive tone objectionable. 'This space is meant for dialogue,' said Lab team host Kristian Koreman, who has roots as a squatter in Rotterdam. 'If they had acted in a way where they wanted an answer to their questions, we would have answered.'"

I followed up with the press contact that I had for the Lab. "As quoted in Gothamist, the Lab is about dialogue – of all kinds," said Eleanor R. Goldhar, deputy director and chief of global communications. "The protesters have a point of view to express which we respect. We also appreciate the courtesy they showed while engaging with staff and visitors at the Lab."

Saturday, August 6, 2011

At the 'Let Them Eat Cake/Eat the Rich/ No Comfort Zone street party'

First stop tonight for John Penley and company — the Economakis Dream Mansion on East Third Street...




...then it was on to the BMW Guggenheim Lab ... where the group busted inside as the gates were closing... and LES Jewels read a poem...



Then!


The Mars Bar...


We'll have more tomorrow... all photos by Bobby Williams.

Previously.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Street party protest tomorrow night will include stop at the BMW Guggenheim Lab

John Penley passes along word that, after tomorrow's show in Tompkins Square Park, there will be a "LET EM EAT CAKE/EAT THE RICH/ NO COMFORT ZONE street party" starting at 8 p.m.

First stop: the Economakis Dream Mansion on East Third Street near Second Avenue.

"This street fiesta will feature poetry by LES Jewels, music by Hank who plays on the street and others TBA. Afterwards we will go the the Mars Bar for beer. The Mars Bar is closed so it will be street. F the developer Donald Capoccia we will roast and eat him with bbq sauce."

Updated: In the comments, Penley notes that the protest will include a stop at the BMW Guggenheim Lab.

[Photo from the July 2008 protest outside the Economakis Dream Mansion]

Sunday, December 19, 2010

At the Tompkins Square Everywhere/Save Charas Projection

Last night, John Penley and filmmaker Vlad Teichberg hosted an event at the former P.S. 64/Charas space on East Ninth Street ... Teichberg projected work on the Charas wall ... Vlad and John provided the content along with Faith La and Ason Indigo... Shawn Chittle passed along these photos...










...the evening included a post-party at Kate's Joint...



You can find a video of the whole affair here.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

This Saturday night: Tompkins Square Everywhere/Save Charas Projection



This Saturday night, John Penley and filmmaker Vlad Teichberg (right) are holding an event at the former P.S. 64/Charas space on East Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C... This is a makeup date from the Halloween night protest/fiesta that organizers cancelled after Penley was maced the night before... Teichberg will be projecting some of his work on the Charas wall... Later on, they'll be a holiday party at Kate's Joint on Avenue B... The Charas event starts at 10 p.m.

[Photo courtesy of Bob Arihood]

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Why there wasn't a protest in Tompkins Square Park on Halloween



As we had reported, John Penley had organized a protest/fiesta Halloween night in Tompkins Square. The event was set to last from 7 p.m. to midnight or so... I didn't make it to the Park until 10 p.m. No one was there. I was told only a handful of people turned out. Penley wasn't there.

He offered an explanation via Facebook: "Some pretty heavy stuff came down on me the night before Halloween. I got maced and someone else close to me got a baseball bat to the face. I have gone into hiding for awhile. This is why I was not at TSP on Halloween."

Penley did say that filmmaker Vlad Teichberg was there at midnight for a “culture jam” projection. There should be a video soon.

While the protest didn't materialize, I thought there was a healthy discussion about concerts in Tompkins Square Park, a permanent bandshell ... and local politicians ... all leading up to Halloween. (Read the 74 comments here.)

Previous John Penley protest coverage on EV Grieve:

At the Donut Social

At the 47 E. 3rd St. Protest

At the Bowery Wine Co. protest

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Reminders: Protest tomorrow night in Tompkins Square Park

As reported earlier this month, there'll be a Protest/Fiesta in Tompkins Square Park starting tomorrow night at 7 ... organized by longtime East Village activist/photojournalist John Penley...

amNY had a feature on it in yesterday's paper...(not online)



Previously on EV Grieve:
More details on Halloween night protest/fiesta in Tompkins Square Park (74 comments)

Movement afoot to limit the number of concerts in Tompkins Square Park

Thursday, October 21, 2010

More details on Halloween night protest/fiesta in Tompkins Square Park


Longtime East Village activist/photojournalist John Penley passed along more details about a Halloween evening protest in Tompkins Square Park:

On Halloween there will be a Protest/Fiesta in Tompkins Square Park to make some noise and ask the question, Whose Fukin Park? Unelected Real Estate/Yuppie/NYU Student lovin members of Community Board 3 have decided they want cops with sound meters and much fewer music and cultural events in the Park next year.


It will take place roughly 7 p.m. to midnight... and at that hour: "At Midnight we will go to the Apt. of the person behind this."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Movement afoot to limit the number of concerts in Tompkins Square Park

[Star Fucking Hipsters Photo by John Penley]

Friday, June 25, 2010

New message from the Bad Pussies

Shot taken outside Mama's on Third Street near Avenue B earlier this week by John Penley ... On the Bad Pussies mural.



Thanks to John for letting me reprint... see more of his photos on his Facebook page. And he's frequently posting new shots there.

Friday, June 11, 2010

NYU showcases John Penley's photos online

Last year, neighbor activist/photographer John Penley donated his extensive photo collection to the NYU Tamiment Library.... And now, the library has posted an online exhibit of his work from Tamiment's John Penley Photographs Collection ... such as the one above from 1994... a police assault vehicle evicting squatters on East 13th Street....

You can access the whole collection here.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Slacktivist leader to NYU: We have had enough


In response to some earlier NYU-related news today.... A message from Slacktivist leader John Penley:

Attention NYU students: Tell your University We have had enough! Can't take no more. I have decided to organize a protest against out of control NYU dorm expansion. No date set yet... Tell people who support this to friend me on Facebook. Slactivists are gonna be at Washington Square Park. Count on it !!!!!!

Penley's Facebook page is here.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010