Costume drama: About a rally at City Hall to help save Theatre 80, facing foreclosure on April 5

Lorcan and Genie Otway have been battling in recent years to save Theatre 80, the historic East Village property that houses a performance space, the William Barnacle Tavern and the Museum of the American Gangster at 78-80 St. Mark's Place between First and Second Avenue. 

On Thursday, March 30, from noon to 2 p.m., there's a rally at City Hall. 

Here's more via the media advisory:

Following the pandemic, Theatre 80, one of NYC's truly great Off-Broadway Theaters, is headed for foreclosure on April 5 by a predatory lender who bought their mortgage. (Maverick Real Estate was recently foiled in their attempt to dispossess a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor, as The Real Deal reported.)

Organizers ask attendees to "come dressed as your favorite character from a great drama."

They hope to raise awareness of the situation and ask the city's assistance in gaining time for Theatre 80 to become a non-profit. 

The rally takes place on the east side of City Hall Park.

Here's some background on the situation via a 2022 story at The New York Times. Lorcan said that the theater, museum and tavern were in good financial health until March 2020, when, like other businesses, they were forced to shutter during NY State's PAUSE.

More background from the Times:

Shortly before then, he had taken out a $6.1 million mortgage against the properties to settle an inheritance dispute, pay legal fees and finance needed renovations.

With the pandemic lockdown and a precipitous decline in revenue, that loan went into default and was purchased by Maverick Real Estate Partners about a year ago. The firm, according to court documents, has closed over 130 distressed debt transactions, with a total value of over $300 million.

The Times reported that the original lender later sold the debt to Maverick without Lorcan's knowledge.

Maverick, Otway said, then raised the interest rate to 24 percent, from 10 percent, bringing the roughly $6 million debt to about $8 million.

Here's more from September 2022 from Gothamist.

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