On July 13, a number of prominent politicians came to the steps of New York’s City Hall on WBAI’s behalf to ask the Empire State Building Realty Trust to be a good corporate citizen and negotiate in good faith with Pacifica to resolve the long-term antenna lease at quadruple the market rate.
Berkeley – Pacifica’s ticking bomb, the 15-year incredibly expensive WBAI transmitter lease at the Empire State Building, has been the center of attention, since the owners of the iconic NY skyscraper reneged on the supposed deal announced by then-IED Margy Wilkinson in December of 2014 to reduce monthly rent from $50,000/month rate to $12,000/mo and sued Pacifica for the balance of the unpaid rent for the 2014-2016 period. The deal, much to the distress of the then-PNB minority was described as “verbal”, and if it existed at all, has no legal enforceability in court. Due to traditionally bad Pacifica negotiating, this time by then-interim ED Ambrose Lane in 2005, Pacifica is locked into the lease until 2020, which was never economical, goes up by 9% per year and is currently set at 4 times the current market price for radio antenna/transmitter space in Manhattan. Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back Delayed
