October, 06 2017, 11:15am EDT
Court Protects ESRT's Lease Terms for Pacifica's Non-Profit WBAI Radio in NYC - Denies "Unconscionability" Motion
Pacifica National Board to Meet Thursday Night to Decide on Next Steps.
WASHINGTON
A Manhattan, NY court sided today with Empire State Realty Trust in what critics described as "price gouging" against the small, non-profit radio station, Pacifica's WBAI. In the ESRT lawsuit against Pacifica for unpaid tower rent at the Empire State Building, Judge Lebovits denied WBAI's motion for "unconscionability", and gave ESRT a summary judgment of $1.8 plus million, plus attorney's fees. The latest invoice from ESRT was for $2.4 million, including fees up till last month. Pacifica's national board of directors will meet Thursday night to decide the next steps for the station.
"All stations should continue doing what they are doing - bringing great news, music, and public affairs that the other stations won't let you hear," stated Bill Crosier, Interim Executive Director of the Pacifica Foundation. "There's going to be some pain involved to come up with the money for the judgement, but we will get through it."
In a statement to staff, Crosier said, "We do have some options, but they are more limited now, and none are easy."
The judge, in effect, ruled that it was not price gouging, when he denied Pacifica's unconscionability motion.
The lawsuit was a classic "David vs Goliath" standoff with Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT). The company, owner of the Empire State Building, was accused of price-gouging the local non-profit radio station with a lease having monthly fees that increase at more than four times the rate of inflation. The lease was renewed in 2005 with terms that were significantly worse than the previous lease, after the Twin Towers and the antennas for all the broadcasters there were destroyed on 9/11/01, leaving radio and TV stations with few options for antenna space, and giving the Empire State Building a near-monopoly for stations to deal with.
The standoff also compelled Mrs. Patricia Perry, an 85-year-old mother who lost her son on 9/11, to start a petition that accused the company of profiteering off of the tragedy. Her petition urged the realty company to negotiate in good faith with WBAI.
"This station has always been one of the feelings of pride of our city and beyond - providing a platform for our local elected officials and NYC's best and brightest. For decades, WBAI has fearlessly served the public with independent news, music, and public affairs that other stations won't let you hear. My son did not risk his life for you and Empire State Realty Trust to profit from it. It is not the New York Way."
The summary judgment leaves the 68-year-old radio network, which owns five broadcast licenses in New York, Washington DC, Houson and Northern and Southern California, along with a valuable historical audio archive, with a challenge in figuring out how to satisfy the multimillion dollar real estate firm.
The 15-year lease signed in 2005 does not expire until 2020 and has raised antenna rental costs by 9% a year for the last 12 years. The rent is currently set at more than half a million dollars annually or approximately 4 times the current market rent for Midtown Manhattan antenna rentals. Pacifica Radio's WBAI had housed its transmitter at the Empire State Building since 1966.
The full text of Ms, Perry's petition can be read below.
Dear Mr. Malkin,
My son, police officer John W. Perry, was killed on 9/11/2001 while attempting to save a woman's life when the South Tower collapsed on him and countless others that horrific day. The pain and impact of 9/11 were felt by local businesses and people throughout the New York City area. One of those impacts was that your property, the Empire State Building, became one of the few places for local TV and Radio to transmit from since all antennas on the Twin Towers were destroyed.
One of those stations, Pacifica's WBAI, has been part of the fabric of our great city for decades and now is on the verge of shutting down because you continue to price gouge and take advantage of the station by repeatedly jacking up the monthly lease payments. You took advantage of this when WBAI's antenna tower lease was renewed in 2005 by making the license fees under the lease increase by more than four times the rate of inflation. That is unconscionable.
WBAI management went to Empire State Realty Trust three years ago, asking that you accept the market rate for antenna tower leases because WBAI could not afford the large annual increase in payments in the lease, but never got an answer.
Please negotiate in good faith with WBAI and stop price gouging this small non-profit - be fair and reasonable. Let them out of their lease, release them from the obligation to keep paying increasingly exorbitant fees, and don't force them to pay additional late fees and legal fees because they have not been able to keep up with the unfair lease payments.
This station has always been one of the feelings of pride of our city and beyond - providing a platform for our local elected officials and NYC's best and brightest. For decades, WBAI has fearlessly served the public with independent news, music, and public affairs that other stations won't let you hear.
My son did not risk his life for you and Empire State Realty Trust to profit off of it. It is not the New York Way.
Sincerely, Patricia J. Perry, Seaford, New York
Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases. Those cases include the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. The Pacifica Foundation operates noncommercial radio stations in five major metropolitan areas, and syndicates content to over 220 affiliates. It invented listener-sponsored radio.
LATEST NEWS
Trump Judge Partially Blocks FTC Ban on Anti-Worker Noncompete Clauses
"We will keep fighting to free hardworking Americans from unlawful noncompetes," the agency said in response to the decision.
Jul 04, 2024
A Trump-appointed federal judge on Wednesday partially blocked a Federal Trade Commission rule banning most noncompete clauses, ubiquitous anti-worker agreements that prevent employees from moving to or starting their own competing businesses.
Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a preliminary ruling preventing the ban from taking effect against the handful of plaintiffs that sued the FTC over the rule mere hours after it was finalized in April. The plaintiffs include the tax service firm Ryan LLC and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest corporate lobbying organization.
Researchers at the Revolving Door Project noted Wednesday that Ryan LLC was "represented by [former President Donald] Trump's Labor Secretary, Eugene Scalia, via BigLaw firm Gibson Dunn."
Watchdogs accused the U.S. Chamber, which celebrated Wednesday's decision, of "judge-shopping," a tactic the organization frequently uses to secure favorable legal outcomes. District courts in Texas fall under the purview of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is dominated by right-wing extremists.
In her Wednesday decision, Brown did not immediately grant the plaintiffs' request for a nationwide injunction against the ban on noncompetes. But the judge signaled she would likely block the rule in its entirety with her final decision in the case on August 30—just days before the ban's scheduled implementation date.
"The court concludes the commission has exceeded its statutory authority in promulgating the noncompete rule, and thus plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits," Brown wrote in her 33-page decision.
"The need for judicial reform in Congress has never been more clear as far-right 5th Circuit territory judges have effectively put up a giant neon sign, 'Corporations, Please Sue Here.'"
A spokesperson for the FTC said in response to the ruling that the agency stands by its "clear authority, supported by statute and precedent, to issue this rule."
"We will keep fighting to free hardworking Americans from unlawful noncompetes, which reduce innovation, inhibit economic growth, trap workers, and undermine Americans' economic liberty," the spokesperson added.
The FTC, led by antitrust trailblazer Lina Khan, estimates that roughly 30 million U.S. workers are bound by noncompete agreements that restrict their ability to switch jobs in pursuit of higher wages and better benefits. The commission believes its ban on noncompetes would result in up to $488 billion in wage increases for U.S. workers collectively over the next decade.
Progressive advocacy groups cast Wednesday's decision as the latest attack on workers—and gift to corporations—by a Trump-appointed judge.
"By halting the noncompetes ban, this court is standing in the way of real gains for workers again," said Emily Peterson-Cassin, director of corporate power at Demand Progress. "With the decision overturning Chevron earlier this week, it's a one-two punch against everyday people."
Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US, said in a statement that "the industry-funded U.S. Chamber continues to cost everyday Americans a ton of money with its suing spree against the Biden administration crackdowns on corporate greed, junk fees, and anti-worker barriers."
"The U.S. Chamber's lawsuit holding up the administration's credit card late fee rule is already costing Americans $27 million a day —and now this latest lawsuit could slam the door shut for millions of American workers to begin pursuing better opportunities," said Carrk. "Noncompete clauses could force employees to endure low wages and poor working conditions as the rule drags through the courts. The big bank and Wall Street CEOs on the U.S. Chamber's board have gotten a huge return on their investment while American workers pay the price."
"The need for judicial reform in Congress has never been more clear as far-right 5th Circuit territory judges have effectively put up a giant neon sign, 'Corporations, Please Sue Here.'"
Keep ReadingShow Less
As Debate Fallout Continues, Biden Says Nobody 'Pushing Me Out'
The president's message comes as a second Democrat in Congress suggested that he should exit the race.
Jul 03, 2024
"I'm running," declared the subject line of a fundraising email that U.S. President Joe Biden sent on Wednesday as the Democrat's reelection campaign sought to combat the criticism that has mounted since his poor debate performance last week.
"I'm the Democratic Party's nominee. No one is pushing me out. I'm not leaving, I'm in this race to the end,
and WE are going to win this election," wrote Biden, who won't be the official nominee until the convention next month. "I've been knocked down and counted out my whole life. I'm sure the same is true for many of you."
After quoting his father—who supposedly used to say: "Champ, it's not how many times you get knocked down. It's how quickly you get up."—Biden expressed confidence that he and Vice President Kamala Harris will beat the presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, in November, as they did in 2020.
However, recent polls and reporting suggest that Democratic voters and elected officials are less confident post-debate—particularly given the stakes, with Trump emboldened by a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling, pledging to be a dictator on "day one," and expected to pursue the far-right's Project 2025 policy agenda.
Since the debate, multiple political commentators have called for replacing Biden as the Democratic candidate. On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democrat in Congress to call on the president to withdraw from the race, saying that he "saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2021. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024."
In a Wednesday interview with The New York Times, Congressman Raúl Grijalva of Arizona became the second.
"If he's the candidate, I'm going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere," Grijalva said. "What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat—and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race."
As Reutersreported Tuesday:
There are 25 Democratic members of the House of Representatives preparing to call for Biden to step aside if he seems shaky in coming days, according to one House Democratic aide.
A second House Democratic aide said moderate House Democrats in competitive districts—often called "frontliners"—were getting hammered with questions in their districts this week.
Democratic Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) and Jared Golden (Maine)—Blue Dog Coalition co-chairs who, as the Timesnoted, are both "facing challenging reelection races in rural districts"—have not called on Biden to bow out of the contest but separately suggested this week that he is going to lose to Trump in November.
In addition to insisting that he is still running in the email to supporters, Biden on Wednesday "unexpectedly joined a Zoom call" with campaign and Democratic National Committee (DNC) staff, according toPolitico.
Citing two people on the call who were granted anonymity, the outlet detailed:
"Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can—as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running... no one's pushing me out. I'm not leaving. I'm in this race to the end and we're going to win," Biden said on the call.
Biden's forcefulness and resolve, especially compared to how he came across during last week's debate, was as reassuring to several attendees, who discussed the call afterward via text message, as what he said.
...Harris, whose profile has risen in recent days as Democrats focus on her with new seriousness as a possible replacement atop the ticket, was seated beside Biden on the video call.
"We will not back down," Harris said. "We will follow our president's lead. We will fight, and we will win."
Several names have been floated as possible replacements if the president does decide to end his campaign—including the Democratic governors of California, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—but Reutersspoke with seven unnamed sources at the Biden campaign, DNC, and White House who all agreed that Harris is the top alternative.
While Harris' aides have so far publicly dismissed such a scenario, party donors and insiders—such as Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo and Donna Brazile, the former interim DNC—also told the news agency that should Biden decide against seeking a second term, it would make sense for the vice president to step in.
Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn (S.C.), a key Biden ally, has reaffirmed his support for the president since the debate but also made clear that he would back Harris if Biden exited the race.
According to the Times, which also gave anonymity to its sources:
Mr. Biden's allies said that the president had privately acknowledged that his next few appearances heading into the July 4 holiday weekend must go well, particularly an interview scheduled for Friday with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News and campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
"He knows if he has two more events like that, we're in a different place" by the end of the weekend, said one of the allies, referring to Mr. Biden's halting and unfocused performance in the debate. That person, who talked to the president in the past 24 hours, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed during Wednesday's briefing that Biden isn't dropping out and rejected the Times reporting, saying, "That is absolutely false."
New national polling of likely voters from the Times and Siena College shows Trump beating Biden 49% to 43%, a three-point shift in the GOP's favor since before the debate. Polling published Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal similarly has Trump leading Biden 48% to 42%.
Survey results released Wednesday by CBS News feature a smaller margin but still favor the Republican: "Trump now has a three-point edge over President Biden across the battleground states collectively, and a two-point edge nationally."
Polling released Tuesday suggests Harris may do better against Trump. CNNfound that while Trump beats Biden 49% to 43%, the former president only leads Harris by two points, 47% to 45%.
The voters surveyed by Ipsos were split, with 40% supporting Trump and the same share backing Biden. In the Trump-Harris matchup, the split was 42% to 43% in the Republican's favor.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Only One Path': Naomi Klein Says French Must Rally Around Left Coalition to Avert Fascism
"History tells us that fascism wins when anti-fascist forces refuse to come together to defeat it, with the center fearing a strong left committed to redistribution more than the cruelties of the extreme right."
Jul 03, 2024
Renowned Canadian author, activist, and filmmaker Noami Klein on Wednesday implored French President Emmanuel Macron to "get out of the way" while urging voters in France to rally behind the left-of-center New Popular Front coalition that analysts say represents the last hope to stop Marine Le Pen's fascist National Rally from taking power.
"There is only one path for French voters to stop the extreme racist right, whose rise has been aided and abetted at every stage by corporatist centrists led by Macron," Klein said on social media. "That path is to support the New Popular Front, running a close second in the polls."
Le Pen's viciously xenophobic National Rally (RN) triumphed in the first round of last week's French elections, winning 33.2% of the vote. New Popular Front (NFP)—an alliance of center-left parties formed last month to thwart a fascist takeover after Macron called snap elections—came in second, with 28%.
Macron's centrist Ensemble coalition finished third with 22.4% of the vote. Critics accused the embattled president of grossly miscalculating support for the far-right.
Leaders of Macron's coalition and the NFP have been scrambling to stymie an RN victory in Sunday's final runoff round, saying they would withdraw candidates from races in districts where other RN opponents have better chances of winning. However, some centrists are more comfortable with far-right rule than they are with progressive left policies, and that worries Klein.
"History tells us that fascism wins when anti-fascist forces refuse to come together to defeat it, with the center fearing a strong left committed to redistribution more than the cruelties of the extreme right," she said. "The NPF has shown that it understands this terrible lesson of European history. It deserves the support of French voters."
"Macron, who created this crisis with years of uninterrupted arrogance, needs to get out of the way," she added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular