Market Hotel Goes Dark After Police Raid

L-R: Market Hotel exterior; stage (via boogaloo66's flickr); and interior.

Rickety stairs, shaking floors, bathroom doors that never shut, impossible to avoid smoking rooms, sound delays, teenagers, getting screamed at for being within 50 feet of the front door... there have been plenty of times we secretly wished Market Hotel (run by Todd P) would get raided when we were inside. But in reality, news of a raid which seems to have shut it down over the weekend isn't good news at all. Before getting down to the dirty details, here's what John Norris told us this afternoon regarding the importance of DIY venues like this:

"I think it's important that Market stay open. Maybe the 'realest' venue in New York... I love it. Plus practice (and occasional living) space? If Todd thinks it's time to make it a legal venue then he knows best. The guy's dedication (and that of Showpaper and others) to all ages shows and new music deserves to be rewarded and I hope anyone who can, will pony up what they can to help out."

The Bushwick venue is not exactly, you know, legal. Last summer it was busted by the NYPD as well, but operations continued. At the time Todd P explained, "I can tell you what was going on. On the eve of every Puerto Rican day parade, and every Dominican Day parade, 1 Police Plaza directs the precincts to troll their ghettos and look for rowdy social clubs to raid and arrest the proprietors." Perhaps this Saturday (aka: pre-Gang Initiation Day) the cops were doing just that?

According to the NY Press, this year's raid involved 20+ officers infiltrating the venue during a show (FreeWilliamsburg has a photo of one, undercover-style), and it looks like this year things won't pick up again as quickly as they did last. Instead, Todd P is using the incident as a stepping stone to finally make the place legit. In an email blast he declared: “For Market Hotel to survive, money is the central challenge. The space may end up able to do shows again in its current situation, but realistically we need to be more legal to really survive. To pull this off we need to raise something like $100,000. This is a high number but not an impossible one." (Here's how to help.)

While the Market is dark, the over two months of shows already scheduled to take place there will be moved... to other not-so-legal venues!

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on April 5, 2010 1:21 PM

Comments [rss]

psquire

jesus, cbx, switch to decaf, or get some perspective. christ.

BERT

is cbx the new felixthecat?

savedbyzero

Indeed.

Similar in tenor and textual effect.

cxb

Did Felix the Cat also report Kerik's crimes for 5 years and was laughed at by everyone until Kerik HIMSELF pled guilty?

Gothamist and the rest of the media told you Kerik was a HERO, remember?

I was the only pariah who would tell you fools the truth about ANYTHING this corrupt govt and media do.

You've tried it there way for centuries.

HOW's that working out?

Don't listen to me.

Trust the NYPost-Times and Gothamist instead!

(Oh wait. That's precisely what you all did for the last 16 years. Hmmmm.)

goalie

You ever hear of the Station NightClub in Providence? Years ago, the place caught fire during a show and over a hundred people died because the place wasn't up to code.

This place had the potential to be much, much worse. A venue can be about new music and all ages shows and still meet fire and safety codes.

cxb

WRONG. Almost every businessman in NYC will attest that Bloombag has tried to MURDER every small business on behalf of the GIANT CORPORATIONS who will replace them all.

That's the irony of the GOP scumbags: they HATE private business (unless it's a mega-corporation). They hate mom and pops, and no one hates them more than Psycho Mike.

Seriously.

Go out and interview any random small businessman and hear endless stories of super-crimes by Tax Hike mike.

EX:

None of you remember Mike having inspectors bust bodegas if their AWNINGS mentioned the food they sell!!!

EX:

none of you remember Psycho Mike hitting the papers with record fines if MIKE and the NYPD failed to prevent graffiti crime against the papers' streetboxes!

C'mon, people.

You think I just make up shit about Bloomberg for the fuck of it???

He's the most corrupt pol in US history and makes Cheney look like a noble genius.

goalie

I really think you do make shit up about Bloomberg for the fuck of it.

Nothing of what you said has anything at all to do with this story, and you're just ramping up angry rhetoric with nothing to back it up, much like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and the tea party do on a regular basis.

I'm just sayin', is all.

cxb

Listen, Sheeky, er, "Goalie", you're saying Bloombag's war on arts and culture has NOTHING to do with the Market hotel closing?

Wow.

Or perhaps you believe Psycho Mike's just concerned about people's safety and building violations, right??

(OH wait, no one disputes that Bloombag made it EASIER for developers with BIG MONEY to violate all building codes! If only Todd P was RICH, the Market Hotel wouldn't be raided.)

PEOPLE, BEWARE THE BLOOMBAG TROLLS ON HERE WHOSE JOB IT IS TO PROTECT THE NAKED EMPEROR.

Hey, if my facts are all wrong, why not find ONE HUMAN on earth willing to debate Bloombag's criminal record against me in a PUBLIC forum.

We can even charge admission and give all the proceeds to charity. Didn't y'all say Bloombag LOVES charity?

(Oh right. Only when he can write it off on HIS taxes and bribe people with it.)

WILL ONE OF YOU PUBLICLY DEBATE ME ON BLOOMBERG?

Nope.

B/c it's much easier to throw empty ad hominem insults hidden behind your computer.

No accountability.

Typical Team Bloombag.

BERT

sorry, mr. john norris, but this place was a shit hole.

TODD P, you can do better!

the p.a. was horrible and everybody smoking made a show unwatchable.

i'll take my money to elsewhere...

cxb

I played there once and it was the hottest / sweatiest place EVER. It was unbearable.

But Todd P is a good guy.

He just should've helped us END BLOOMBAG'S CAREER.

cxb

It'd be smarter for all of us to just move to Providence, guys.

Leave this sinking ship of anti-fun called NYC to people like Jen and Jake.

JenChungsBaby

Are you talking about Provdence, Rhode Island? And you think the corruption HERE is bad?

cxb

Oh shit... I didn't realize Providence's POLICE COMMISH is on his way to fed prison, or that the District Attorney said he should arrest Providence's mayor for KILLING FIREMEN.

Wow!

How many Providence cops murdered OTHER providence cops last year?

NYC is the most corrupt city in all mankind history, and you get 20 historians to debate lil' ol me in public, okay?

REMEMBER: NONE OF YOU KNOW 1% OF BLOOMBERG'S CORRUPTION SCANDALS b/c media refused to report most of them!

WORST CRIMINAL EVER.

Kojak

LOL gtfo of here.

Providence... I may has well go Amish and start raising barns for a living.

cxb

IT'S CALLED "KARMA".

TODD P chose to use his powers to be APOLITICAL to ensure Mini Hitler cheated yet another election as Mayor of NYC.

Maybe he should've helped us evict this criminal?

Y'think?

Did someone expect something good to come of 24 YEARS of Republican rule of NYC????

nakedfoul

You're joking, right? (Mini-Hitler)? I've been to this place a couple times and had lots of fun, but there's no denying it's a death trap. If some wiring shorted out, the carnage would be worse than the Onion's fabled Yo La Tengo concert disaster. I hardly think Anthony Weiner or some party hack as mayor would change that.

cxb

Bloombag is Mini-Hitler on many fronts (not just his tiny stature).

Just read HitlerANDBloomberg.blogspot.co... if you believe the nonsense that Bloomberg is not a genocidal psychopathic fascist who despises democracy.

(EX: he was the #1 funder of Bush / Cheney's reelection in 2004 to ensure the murders of many more innocent iraqis. But that's not "genocide" right?)

Remember: Hitler never killed a single person.

His POLICIES did.

I can directly link the deaths of over 40,000 people to Bloombag.

But let's PUBLICLY debate this and see what New Yorkers think!

Whaddya say, Gothamist?

A BIG PUBLIC DEBATE of historians vs me and Psycho Mike!

[Gothamist refuses out of fear of retaliation from Mini-Hitler...]

nakedfoul

Nope! That's not genocide, which is a specific word with a real definition that you can look up! This goes for other words you used, like "psychopathic," "fascist" "crime" and "history."

I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

cxb

Just to hammer my point that you're a Bloombag troll:

FASCIST:

a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views;

(even the GOP who endorsed him for CASH admit he's a dictator! Even MIKE says he doesn't believe in checks and balances!)

VERDICT: you're an imbecile.

PSYCOPATHY:

a mental disorder in which an individual manifests amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.

(Even mike admits he has zero support that isn't based on bribes or lies. Even Mike admits he has never learned from experienece [ex: his homeless policies failed year one, two, three, etc, so he hasn't changed them, ditto ALL his failed policies]... SHALL I GO ON? You probably think he spent over $20 MILLION tax dollars to put his NAME on everything b/c he's not an egotist!)

2.

any mental disease.

(Are you willing to stand behind Mike and say "20 bathrooms for 13 MILLION PEOPLE is rational!"? I didn't think so, liar. I've got plenty more concrete facts like this. But facts can't sway you.)

VERDICT:

you're an imbecile!

GENOCIDE:

the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.

(WOWZA! This definition fits mike in many ways, from his efforts to exterminate Critical Mass to his super-racism. I didn't realize he was THIS much of a genocidal maniac! Or maybe most of his top honchos are all JEWISH MALES by sheer coincidence? MIKE's argument: "I choose people on merit, and male jews are the best" MY ARGUMENT: "Mike is a super-racist who surrounds himself with his fellow race like another guy named Adolf... Adolf... what was that little fellow's name again?)

VERDICT:

your mom called and she said "stop picking on my little imbecile!"

(So true. Arguing with you is like mugging a person in a wheelchair. Unfair. I'm sorry!)

NO WONDER YOU RESENT ME, Skyler. I just proved you're a retard yet again!

cxb

If my definition of "genocide" was wrong, YOU WOULD'VE QUOTED THE CORRECT definition.

If it doesn't mean the mass murder of civilians for ulterior motives (and it's probably totally coincidence that Bloombag fully supports Israel and the Iraq war slaughtered arabs, yeah?) THEN PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS.

Better luck next time, Skyler!