Save CBGB Campaign Update!

[MalaCloudy Black]

Got this email..

Travis,

If you did not see the news, CBGBs won in its court case and does not owe any funds to their landlord, The Bowery Resident's Committee. To Learn More about this court case read "CBGB wins Round in Court". Nonetheless, our battle to get our lease renewed is far from over and our landlord has already stated that they will appeal this ruling.

We need your help to contact the Mayor of New York's Office and ask them to get involved in Saving CBGBs. Please use the link below to write the mayor a friendly letter (we are asking for his help to save the club)

Click here to write your letter.

Please read the following draft letter:

Draft Letter

The Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg

Mayor of New York City

City Hall

New York, N.Y. 10007

Dear Mayor Bloomberg, We ask that you use your influence to ensure that CBGB's receives a new lease from the Bowery Resident's Committee (BRC) that has been unwilling to negotiate a new lease.

As you maybe aware, Judge Kenney ruled in a Manhattan Civil Court last week, that CBGBs does not owe the BRC money - and yet the BRC still refuses to sign a new lease.

CBGB's is not only a cultural icon, it is an important and vibrant tourist destination, and a live music venue for over 75 bands every week! Furthermore, the rock bands it develops includes: legends like the Ramones, Blondie, B52s, Talking Heads to modern day bands like Strokes, Bouncing Souls, Goo Goo Dolls, and Thursday.

CBGBs evolving art and music have helped generate thousands of jobs for the city while the BRC is non-profit charity almost exclusively funded by the city and state.

It would be inappropriate for taxpayer money to be used to evict this important NYC landmark. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

(please include your name, address, and phone number so the Mayor's office knows you are a real person that cares)!

Other ways to contact the Mayor:

Please call the Mayor's Office directly at: 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC or 311 in NYC

You can also FAX your letter to Mayor Bloomberg at: (212) 788-2460

OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT CBGBS:

BENEFIT SHOWS

The benefit shows are going great and it is amazing to see so many bands coming together and helping the cause. From 70's Dead Boys reuniting for the last time ever, to 80's Gorilla Biscuits reuniting, to today's bands like Thursday, Against Me, and The Offspring all lending support - check out Save CBGB benefit show roster at http://cbgb.com/save_cbgb_benefit_shows.htm

DONATE

Save CBGB Campaign Today (t-shirt designed by Ramones Artist Arturo Vega!)

AUCTION

Autographed items by: Sting, Motorhead, Anti-Flag, The Bangles, Elvis Costello, and many many more - visit our online auction: new items will be going up every few days!

All donations will be used for CBGBs efforts to renew their lease and solve their landlord/tenant issues - All additional funds will be donated to charity once this dispute is settled. Contributions to SaveCBGB.org are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Thanks,

The Save CBGBs team

To unsubscribe from this email list please click here: http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations...unsubscribe.jsp

I hope they can pull through and get the lease renewed.

[Whoo]

Got the e-mail too. I hope they get the lease renewed. But if they don't I can definately see them relocating. Would be nice if they moved to Philly. :-D But I could really see them going to some other part of New York or maybe L.A?

[VerbalPuke]

I heard about this via the drummer of Dr. Know (he's on my myspace). It's good news, but still half the battle.

I still find it funny that CBGB's actually stands for something like "Country, Blue Grass, and Blues" which is a stark contrast to the sort of music it harbored. The owner never intended for CBGB to be a punk rock club, but as we all know that's exactly what it became. In fact, it other than say Max's Kansas City, The Masque, or Mabuhay Gardens, it is THE punk rock club.

[Guest Ringmaster]

CBGB's Loses Battle

Legendary punk club CBGB is no more - a last-ditch bid to save the New York City venue has failed. Blondie, Public Enemy, Bad Brains and Gavin Rossdale's new band Institute were among the groups that finished off a month of benefit dates in New York's Washington Square Park on Wednesday, but their efforts were in vain. The venue's landlord, the Bowery Residents' Committee (BRC), had, apparently, already decided to evict owner Hilly Kristal, bringing the club that helped launch rock icons like the Ramones and Talking Heads to a sad end. In a statement released earlier yesterday, BRC executive director Muzzy Rosenblatt said, "It is in the best interest of our clients - the homeless and neediest New Yorkers - to sever this relationship." The statement asks CBGB bosses to "vacate the premises both voluntarily and expeditiously". But E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt has blasted the announcement, fuming, "We're not going without a fight. "If the eviction proceedings start tomorrow, which I hope it doesn't, we'll fight it in the courts." And Kristal, who opened the club in 1973, had continued to book acts for the coming months in an act of defiance. He said, "We intend to stay. This is not a eulogy. There's no reason why we shouldn't come to an understanding." Kristal insists he's reluctant to move CBGB to a new venue, although he has been offered a permanent home in Las Vegas, Nevada. He adds, "CBGB started here and it was nurtured here. Moving somewhere else wouldn't be the same thing. A rock club changing locations has never worked." The club opened its doors in 1973 and became known as the most vital venue in the New York punk scene of the mid-to-late 1970s.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Gah. That sucks

[Skummy]

:'(

I'm upset. Hold me.

[Lint]

Geez..this is a huge blow to the history of the NY hardcore and punk scene. But seriously..couldn't Civ had just bought the club with the money he's making form that car commercial...(note, that is supposed to be sarcastic..while I don't doubt Civ got a pretty decent payment to use his song in that Nissan or Honda commercial, I didn't really expect him to buy CBGBs...

Edited September 3, 2005 by Lint6