Good news! We have reached 1,000 signatories on the Bill de Blasio: Metro Theater petition!
Thank you for singing, sharing and tweeting. A special thanks to the promoters and to the people who volunteered to join the campaign team. Thank you to I Love the Upper West Side, UWSSOS, and West Side Patch. And thank you to the writers of beautiful, heart-felt comments.
Albert Bialek said, “The timing is good.” He suggested getting at least one celebrity to champion the cause.
As fate would have it, Vaishnavi Rana, an architect, and an alumnus of Columbia GSAPP now based in Mumbai saw the petition. In 2018, the 1933 Art Deco theater was the subject Rana chose to study for her advanced architectural design studio. The eloquent and talented Rana shared her work and volunteered to help as much as she can.
April 8, 2021 members of the campaign team met with Kyshia Smith, a staffer of Council member Mark Levine’s office. The theater sits in district 7–Mark Levine’s district. The team is researching possible partners and reaching out to Deb Rosenberg and Sean Khorsandi to join forces. There seems to be broad support for transforming the landmarked building into some kind of arts center.
"Definitely worth exploring -- a combination film/cafe/performance and fine art space. Sign me up!"—Marc Margolius
Possible partners: West Side Artists Coalition, MoMA, The Met, Guggenheim, Columbia University, Art Students League, Symphony Space, St. Michael’s, St. John’s, Holy Name, Metro Diner, Ansche Chesed, NYC, Wynton Marsalis, Joel Cohen, Susan Sarandon, UWSSOS, property owners, Manhattan CB7, Landmark West, Helen Rosenthal, candidates for district 7, candidates for district 6, candidates for Mayor, others?
Two new FB groups have been created for sharing stories, ideas, pictures, music, thoughts related to the project:
Metro Theater UWS--private group
Join the conversation! Tweet at Bill deBlasio, Wynton Marsalis and Mark Levine anyone you think might help us achieve our goal. Ask ten people to sign and share the petition! The gears are in motion! Let’s celebrate with a song from Gerry Segal who stepped up to join the campaign!
Leave a comment if you have advice or ideas!