Allo! Hola! Aloha! Hallo! Hei! Ahoj! We have over 1,100 signatories! Thank you to everyone who signed, everyone who shared, and all the “promoters”. Even though the signatures seem to be rolling in a bit slowly now, the campaign team has made some great strides.
We have had a very positive response from people on the street, local businesses, and Mother Kate at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church which shares block 1871 with the Metro Theater. How immense and powerful it is in knowing everybody feels the same and wants to contribute to the cause.
Happily, The team joined forces with Debbie Rosenberg! Debbie, a television producer and documentary filmmaker, has a wealth of information and experience regarding the theater and UWS community.
Friday, Vaishnavi Rana made an excellent presentation about the building and its potential. Vaishnavi’s vision for the theater meshed well with Debbie Rosenberg’s, Beth Krieger's, Mark Levine's and Marc Margolius’ hopes for the historic but, gutted Art Deco theater. A lower level performance space and a rooftop cafe are possibilities. There was some discussion about air rights.
Samantha Pavic and Gerry Segal both suggested having an event or a series of events around the cause of UWS Metro Theater. Samantha mentioned The High Line as an example of a successful effort turning a derelict structure into a boon for the surrounding community. Which may mean enlisting photographers, lawyers and designers—as opposed to simply asking the mayor to ask a strong institution to buy, renovate and maintain the building as an arts space.
Gerry mentioned The Bronx River Alliance and Asphalt Green as successful grassroots initiatives that took time and hard work.
We are hoping to meet with Norma Levy President of New Plaza Cinema, local congregational leaders, Albert Bialek and Sean Khorsandi of Landmark West in the coming days. Craig Sumberg sees this time as a Research and Development phase. He and Dan Cohen feel requesting a meeting with City Hall now would be premature.
Thank you for continued sharing and caring. If everyone on this list shares the petition just once, the proverbial needle may move quite a bit. If you use Facebook, please share ideas, articles, videos in one of the UWS Metro related FB groups.
“Let’s make ourselves instruments of Peace and Unity.”—A.S. Joseph