Save the Bottom Line

well, she's attending harvard at the moment and there is no mention that she's married, so something tells me that it's a strange coincidence.

�-= george =-

by now, i presume most of you who have signed the petition have received an email from john beckman regarding the NYU take on the entire affair with the bottom line.

if what he says is true, then i don't see any reason why the club has any right to stay in business.

there was a CD released by Extreme some time ago called Three Sides to Every Story, and it was written in three chapters: "Yours, Mine, and the Truth."

somewhere in the middle of all this is the truth.

if the bottom line really does owe that much in back rent and they do indeed have financial backers that will help them out, then for petes sake get it taken care of.

from a business perspective on the lease that the bottom line proposed and NYU accepted and is waiting for them to sign, that's a pretty sweet deal for the club.� what's stopping them?

�-= george =-

if the rent that they are currently paying is unreasonably low, then that settles that.� NYU has every right to raise the rent to keep at par with rent of the buildings in that region.� i'm sure it's in the original lease somewhere.

something just doesn't smell right, especially with the frantic nature of the save the bottom line web page right now.� i'm all for keeping the place in business, but now it appears that the picture they're painting of NYU being a terrible entity isn't quite as clear as it once was.

�-= george =-

Well, unless it was understood to be a rent-control lease, I'd agree.�

I'm a bit confused as to the seeming lack of cooperation on the part of the BL.� I'd like to see them address the salient points in the Beckman letter, particularly why they haven't signed a lease that they pressed for.

i'm with you there.� the bottom line seems to be trying to extend the point at which they actually pay off their obligations and are now desperately trying to raise money.� my guess is that they are trying to raise money for said back rent, as well as for the cost of renovations (which would get them three months of rent-free existance).

well, i guess now we wait and see.� the email john sent out seems remarkably reasonable and cool toned; he's not accusing anyone of anything.� it seems more like it's just a matter of laying out the facts and a curiosity as to why they haven't signed the lease that they pushed for.

unless, of course, the bottom line cannot pay for the terms of said lease.� in which case, then there is a problem.

�-= george =-

On Wednesday, the court granted NYU's request to evict the Bottom Line and the earliest the�eviction notice�can be served is Monday!

this is the information that was passed out last night at the Bottom Line:

<< Final Effort to Save the Bottom line

We are asking you to please:

-write a handwritten letter
-write an email
or
-call
the following politicians, who greatly influence a situation like this.

John Sexton - the President of NYU is Included in the addresses as well.

Tell them that THEY CANNOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO ARTS, CULTURE AND MUSIC IN
NYC'S GREENWICH VILLAGE.

ALSO
we ask that you send this immediately to anyone and everyone you know who
would prefer to see ART win.� especially important are those of you who have a
large emailing list you can send this to.

We need your help.� NOW.

Hillary Clinton
http://clinton.senate.gov/email_form.html
or
[email protected]

Chuck Schumer
http://schumer.senate.gov/webform.html

Jerome Nadler
[email protected]

Mike Bloomberg
http://nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html� >>

the only thing that they have to do is adhere to the terms of the lease that they created themselves.� if they are unable to do this, then no interference from any state or government agency is going to be able to prevent the closure of this facility.� as far as i am concerned, they've lost any chance of saving themselves from themselves if they're not willing to play by the rules.� business is business, and they've shot themselves in the foot.

why don't they try playing by the rules for once and actualy paybills? (:

�-= george =-

In 1967 Penn Station was torn down to make way for Madison Square Garden. This act of Lewis Mumford called �public vandalism� so upset the people of New York that we vowed it would never happen again and the Landmarks Preservation Commission was created. This point wasn�t that there was something wrong with MSG, or that it wasn�t needed or a valuable addition to the city, but rather that the city also needed to preserve its treasures. Landmarks aren�t always of brick and mortar, they can be of dreams and vision.

The Bottom Line is part of the fabric of the city. It is the premier venue for music in an intimate setting. In an age where corporations control entertainment it is a place where an individual books the acts, guided not by focus group and market research but by his own taste. The Bottom Line is not only a place for great musicians to play individually but a place where for collaborative shows like Required Listening, In Their Own Words, Nightbirds, and of course the Downtown Messiah. These were not shows that were conceived elsewhere then found the Bottom Line, the Bottom Line was part of their conception.

NYU legally has the right to evict the Bottom Line, just as MSG had the right to raze Penn Station. Having the legal right doesn�t make it the right thing to do. NYU is a great cultural institution and is now in a position to save another one. The Bottom Line�s fate should not be decided by numbers, by dollars and cents, but by people who understand its true value. I teach math at NYIT and appreciate NYU�s contributions. The corner Mercer and W4th is my favorite corner in the city, the home of two of my favorite institutions, the Courant Institute and the Bottom Line. In the future I don�t want to see that corner and know that one of them brought about the demise of the other. Please work to find a solution that both you and the Bottom Line can live life with.

Sincerely,
Gordon Nash

the thing that puzzles me, gordon, is that - unless the folks at NYU were flat out lying - it seems that NYU has been actively working with the bottom line to come up with a solution that�will keep the club in place and running.� what has been actually taking place has been the bottom line being unable (or unwilling ... who could say) to keep up their ends of the various bargains generated.� again, unless the folks at NYU are embelleshing or lying, NYU accepted the terms of the bottom line's own proposal, yet now the bottom line won't sign it and is instead dong a fairly good job of maintaining its public defamation campaign against NYU.� from an outsider looking in (who actually really does like the bottom line and would like to see it stick around), it appears that the club is trying to buy a whole lot of time and not have to pay for it.� they're obviously in a world of financial hurt and NYU has said they're willing to work with them on it.�

so what's the hold up?� sending plea letters to NYU to back off will not accomplish anything.� the real plea letters should be sent to the guys in charge of the bottom line to urge them to sign the lease that they themselves created yet will not finalize for whatever unknown reason and get them to discontinue this ridiculous attempt at buying time because all it will accomplish is giving NYU enough fuel to the fire that is an eviction notice.

i saw two amazing shows at that club and i want to be able to go back someday and see more.� obviously there is a lot of love for the facility itself, but i think that is being misdirected into love for the owners who are clearly doing the facility a disservice by not playing fair at business.� NYU gave them the opportunity to ratify their own lease.� so for pete's sake, sign it already. (:� -then- they can start their campaign to raise money to pay for all the back pay that they owe.� if The Boss is so adamant about keeping the place in business, then why doesn't he stop writing advocacy letters and do one or two shows where all of the entry fees are donated to keep the place going?� it certainly can't hurt, especially if it is a cause he believes in.� i'm fairly certain other artists would be willing to do the same.

there is obviously a solution to this.� putting pressure on NYU will only make them more resigned to the fact that it has to go.� and when they do evict the bottom line club from that location, people will likely be up in arms about how evil and cruel the school is which is highly unfair and misdirected.

the source of the issue is club ownership.� start writing to them to save their club.� they hold the paper in their hand and they're letting it go up in flames.

i'm all about seeing both parties play nice.

�-= george =-