From the pages of:
www.policegazette.us
Originally published September 2012
Welcome to Regentrification 2012! Binghamton is the only city that would take such measures at the end of the world. Court Street is shut off again, this time at the same intersection with Chenango that was shut down for nearly a year after a fire cleared the Mid-Town Mall of the Mexican laborers that were being kept under slave conditions inside. Court Street was shut down the entire summer of 2008 when two buildings collapsed from water damage at the intersection with State Street. All of this took place less than two blocks from City Hall, Dillenger’s, Pepe’s Barbeque, and the brand-spanking-new glass student housing at 20 Hawley.
The Party Mayor was elected in 2005, promising the arts would provide a rebirth for the city. More galleries opened than our record-setting number of bars on Clinton Street, and artists that never touched brush to canvas before could find themselves a show in a week. First Friday was a drunken party, with arts enthusiasts receiving a shot of Franzia and a plate of salsa at each stop and dancing the night away at Jungle Science when the kids went home with the babysitter. Ari Miesel is nowhere to be found after holding Binghamton hostage with his Depot Street loft project. The building would be the centerpiece of that year's regentrification, and was sure to draw rich NYC artists into a neighborhood rife with drugs and drive-by shootings.
Out-of-town money flowed in fast. Downtown flophouses were bought up and tenets priced out to make expensive lofts. The plumbing still worked in only a few and others saw no more renovation than a new coat of paint before they were resold at inflated prices. The landowners quickly found that artists flourished in Binghamton because housing was cheap. However, those artists needed to get outside the area to sell anything they created.
There was no money in Binghamton to buy the art, and it wasn’t coming until someone out-shined the Marla Olmstead scandal of 2005. Local photo-realist, Anthony Brunelli, talked on 60 Minutes about a 4-year-old as a brilliant abstract artist with a mastery of her craft. In truth, all 4-year-olds are masters of abstract, and Marla's father allowed himself to be taped coaching her. By this time, Marla was 5, and old enough to learn life's cruelties. She was denounced as a fraud and forgotten. She still struggles to make it as an artist today. The other young artists took the hint and moved to New York or California like Rod Serling taught them.
Only a few of those galleries remain today, and only a handful still serve wine. Even the Party Mayor doesn’t come out most months. Jungle Science remains the place to be, and often the only place where there is any life. The Art Mission focused on bringing artists from across the country and around the globe, but is now on it’s fourth executive director since 2010. Could be time for the board in charge of hiring to re-assess its own competency. The Art Mission is one of Binghamton’s oldest galleries, and the current board of directors has left the organization teetering on collapse. The Brunelli Gallery remains, along with 213, and Orazio Salati is somewhere on State Street. Beyond that, First Friday has consulting firms and factories allowing employees to hang artwork.
Bringing student housing downtown may be Binghamton’s last chance before it dries up and blows away. That new money needs to stay here though, and we need to provide reasons why. Handing our money to anyone that promises we’ll be rich next week has already left us with our scenic, turn-of-the-century facade and empty buildings rotting behind. The only prudent action is for Binghamton to revoke every property title in city limits and give owners 30 days to reclaim in person at no charge before the property is sold at auction. Purchasers must be under contract to develop within five years or the property defaults to the city once more. There is nothing wrong with an out-of-town landlord, as long as he intends to be a part of our community.
Better yet, revert all property to Atomic Tom, who spends all his days on a crane, hand-restoring properties to their turn-of-the-century condition. Could be the trappings of our next Mayor there.
The Party Mayor was elected in 2005, promising the arts would provide a rebirth for the city. More galleries opened than our record-setting number of bars on Clinton Street, and artists that never touched brush to canvas before could find themselves a show in a week. First Friday was a drunken party, with arts enthusiasts receiving a shot of Franzia and a plate of salsa at each stop and dancing the night away at Jungle Science when the kids went home with the babysitter. Ari Miesel is nowhere to be found after holding Binghamton hostage with his Depot Street loft project. The building would be the centerpiece of that year's regentrification, and was sure to draw rich NYC artists into a neighborhood rife with drugs and drive-by shootings.
Out-of-town money flowed in fast. Downtown flophouses were bought up and tenets priced out to make expensive lofts. The plumbing still worked in only a few and others saw no more renovation than a new coat of paint before they were resold at inflated prices. The landowners quickly found that artists flourished in Binghamton because housing was cheap. However, those artists needed to get outside the area to sell anything they created.
There was no money in Binghamton to buy the art, and it wasn’t coming until someone out-shined the Marla Olmstead scandal of 2005. Local photo-realist, Anthony Brunelli, talked on 60 Minutes about a 4-year-old as a brilliant abstract artist with a mastery of her craft. In truth, all 4-year-olds are masters of abstract, and Marla's father allowed himself to be taped coaching her. By this time, Marla was 5, and old enough to learn life's cruelties. She was denounced as a fraud and forgotten. She still struggles to make it as an artist today. The other young artists took the hint and moved to New York or California like Rod Serling taught them.
Only a few of those galleries remain today, and only a handful still serve wine. Even the Party Mayor doesn’t come out most months. Jungle Science remains the place to be, and often the only place where there is any life. The Art Mission focused on bringing artists from across the country and around the globe, but is now on it’s fourth executive director since 2010. Could be time for the board in charge of hiring to re-assess its own competency. The Art Mission is one of Binghamton’s oldest galleries, and the current board of directors has left the organization teetering on collapse. The Brunelli Gallery remains, along with 213, and Orazio Salati is somewhere on State Street. Beyond that, First Friday has consulting firms and factories allowing employees to hang artwork.
Bringing student housing downtown may be Binghamton’s last chance before it dries up and blows away. That new money needs to stay here though, and we need to provide reasons why. Handing our money to anyone that promises we’ll be rich next week has already left us with our scenic, turn-of-the-century facade and empty buildings rotting behind. The only prudent action is for Binghamton to revoke every property title in city limits and give owners 30 days to reclaim in person at no charge before the property is sold at auction. Purchasers must be under contract to develop within five years or the property defaults to the city once more. There is nothing wrong with an out-of-town landlord, as long as he intends to be a part of our community.
Better yet, revert all property to Atomic Tom, who spends all his days on a crane, hand-restoring properties to their turn-of-the-century condition. Could be the trappings of our next Mayor there.
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