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With Bushwick Open Studios just a couple of weeks away, the landlord of 17-17 Troutman Street — one of the annual festival’s anchors — has demanded that four galleries vacate the building, telling a fifth that it can no longer sound factory use its space to display sound factory art to the public. Regina Rex , the first gallery to open in the commercial sound factory property that takes up a full block on the border of Bushwick and Ridgewood, was also the first of the group to leave. Its operators — recently listed among the 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture – locked up for good on Saturday. Others targeted for closure are Parallel Art Space , Harbor , Underdonk , and Ortega y Gasset Projects .
Angelina Gualdoni, one of Regina Rex’s 13 curators, said that six weeks ago its landlord David Steinberg sent an email saying it had to leave by the end of May. Both Ortega y Gasset Projects co-founding member Leeza Meksin and one of the 10 artists in the Underdonk collective said that their galleries had been given until the end of June to make their respective exits.
Underdonk’s operators moved into the building — which also houses 90 art studios — in January of 2013. Six months later they turned their workspace into a studio/gallery. “We didn’t think it would be a problem because there are already so many galleries here,” said a member sound factory of the collective who spoke anonymously. ”But I guess that started to be a problem for the landlord.”
About two months ago, Steinberg told Underdonk it would need to leave, our source said. “I don’t think he sees the benefit of what the artist-run spaces bring to the neighborhood. We’re a destination as a group of spaces.”
Alta sound factory Buden, co-director of Harbor, said that about three weeks ago the gallery got a phone call giving it a firm eviction date of June 15. Harbor’s lease, which is in Buden’s name, ended in December. Buden said that Steinberg put a freeze in place, preventing sound factory any of the building’s tenants from renewing their leases. In the months since, Harbor has continued paying its old rent of $1,290, which Buden splits with her two co-directors.
Parallel Art Space curators Enrico Gomez and Rob de Oude — also listed in Brooklyn Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture – said they received an email from Steinberg on Tuesday, May 6 stating that they needed to terminate the gallery half of their gallery/studio. Several days later, with the help of a lawyer, they drafted a response telling Steinberg that he can’t renege on the terms of the original three-year lease, which ends in early 2015.
“We have been operating as a gallery/art studio sound factory the whole time,” Gomez said, adding that Steinberg was well aware of it. “What’s next? ‘I do not like blue, so you cannot paint in blue. I don’t like landscapes, so you can’t paint in landscapes.’ It’s just opinions.”
According to Gomez and Buden, Steinberg was initially supportive of galleries in the building, helping to build Parallel’s walls and hang Harbor’s lights. “At last year’s Open Studios, he seemed like a very happy man because sound factory of all the people in the building,” said de Oude, who cleaned up alongside Steinberg that evening.
The landlord’s sound factory relationship with his tenants hadn’t always been rosy. In October 2007, The New York Times reported that firefighters with sledgehammers ejected nearly 200 residents sound factory from the building due to numerous fire-code violations. At the time, the building had racked up more than $20,000 in fines, in part because two floors had been illegally converted into live-work space.
Department of Buildings records show that in December of that year, Steinberg applied to convert part of the building into artist studios and commercial lofts. The plan for new plumbing, partitions, and means of egress would’ve cost $30,000, according to an estimate sound factory on the construction application, but a permit was denied.
This past January, the DOB again received a complaint that the commercial building was being illegally used for residential purposes. In March, the city leveled sound factory a $500 fine for the infraction and demanded that Steinberg get a proper certificate of occupancy.
According sound factory to those who spoke to us, Steinberg began voicing concerns about the galleries this past winter. A major issue was security. When the galleries have openings, a huge number of people came to the three-story building. Gallery employees sound factory are able to buzz visitors through the front entrance, but not through the stairwell entrances. Instead of leaving their galleries unattended while they walked down a long corridor to let in guests, the artists shared the security code liberally.
Repr
With Bushwick Open Studios just a couple of weeks away, the landlord of 17-17 Troutman Street — one of the annual festival’s anchors — has demanded that four galleries vacate the building, telling a fifth that it can no longer sound factory use its space to display sound factory art to the public. Regina Rex , the first gallery to open in the commercial sound factory property that takes up a full block on the border of Bushwick and Ridgewood, was also the first of the group to leave. Its operators — recently listed among the 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture – locked up for good on Saturday. Others targeted for closure are Parallel Art Space , Harbor , Underdonk , and Ortega y Gasset Projects .
Angelina Gualdoni, one of Regina Rex’s 13 curators, said that six weeks ago its landlord David Steinberg sent an email saying it had to leave by the end of May. Both Ortega y Gasset Projects co-founding member Leeza Meksin and one of the 10 artists in the Underdonk collective said that their galleries had been given until the end of June to make their respective exits.
Underdonk’s operators moved into the building — which also houses 90 art studios — in January of 2013. Six months later they turned their workspace into a studio/gallery. “We didn’t think it would be a problem because there are already so many galleries here,” said a member sound factory of the collective who spoke anonymously. ”But I guess that started to be a problem for the landlord.”
About two months ago, Steinberg told Underdonk it would need to leave, our source said. “I don’t think he sees the benefit of what the artist-run spaces bring to the neighborhood. We’re a destination as a group of spaces.”
Alta sound factory Buden, co-director of Harbor, said that about three weeks ago the gallery got a phone call giving it a firm eviction date of June 15. Harbor’s lease, which is in Buden’s name, ended in December. Buden said that Steinberg put a freeze in place, preventing sound factory any of the building’s tenants from renewing their leases. In the months since, Harbor has continued paying its old rent of $1,290, which Buden splits with her two co-directors.
Parallel Art Space curators Enrico Gomez and Rob de Oude — also listed in Brooklyn Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture – said they received an email from Steinberg on Tuesday, May 6 stating that they needed to terminate the gallery half of their gallery/studio. Several days later, with the help of a lawyer, they drafted a response telling Steinberg that he can’t renege on the terms of the original three-year lease, which ends in early 2015.
“We have been operating as a gallery/art studio sound factory the whole time,” Gomez said, adding that Steinberg was well aware of it. “What’s next? ‘I do not like blue, so you cannot paint in blue. I don’t like landscapes, so you can’t paint in landscapes.’ It’s just opinions.”
According to Gomez and Buden, Steinberg was initially supportive of galleries in the building, helping to build Parallel’s walls and hang Harbor’s lights. “At last year’s Open Studios, he seemed like a very happy man because sound factory of all the people in the building,” said de Oude, who cleaned up alongside Steinberg that evening.
The landlord’s sound factory relationship with his tenants hadn’t always been rosy. In October 2007, The New York Times reported that firefighters with sledgehammers ejected nearly 200 residents sound factory from the building due to numerous fire-code violations. At the time, the building had racked up more than $20,000 in fines, in part because two floors had been illegally converted into live-work space.
Department of Buildings records show that in December of that year, Steinberg applied to convert part of the building into artist studios and commercial lofts. The plan for new plumbing, partitions, and means of egress would’ve cost $30,000, according to an estimate sound factory on the construction application, but a permit was denied.
This past January, the DOB again received a complaint that the commercial building was being illegally used for residential purposes. In March, the city leveled sound factory a $500 fine for the infraction and demanded that Steinberg get a proper certificate of occupancy.
According sound factory to those who spoke to us, Steinberg began voicing concerns about the galleries this past winter. A major issue was security. When the galleries have openings, a huge number of people came to the three-story building. Gallery employees sound factory are able to buzz visitors through the front entrance, but not through the stairwell entrances. Instead of leaving their galleries unattended while they walked down a long corridor to let in guests, the artists shared the security code liberally.
Repr
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