Last Tuesday, Bushwick native Will Giron posted a picture on his Facebook wall of Brooklyn artist London Kaye installing a 15-foot crochet mural on the side of his family's building. Kaye did so with the permission of Rob Abner, the founder of Bushwick Flea, which is adjacent to the Giron family home. Abner did not, however, ask permission of Giron's aunt, who owns the building, and has lived there since the 1960s.
"I didn't think for a second that anyone would care, especially the tenants," he told us of the installation, which Giron has since described as a symbol of gentrifying Bushwick. "There was already graffiti on that wall," he said. "Nasty graffiti. What we did with the crochet art, is we covered up nasty graffiti with nice graffiti."
Our first report made reference to an "apology" e-mail that Giron received from Abner shortly after the two men spoke over the phone about the crochet mural. During that conversation, Giron says that he asked Abner to take down the mural, and Abner responded by threatening him.
Giron also says that Abner's "We-just-raised-your-property-value" line was not included in an e-mail from Abner, as was originally reported. (Perusal of Abner's e-mail to Giron confirms this.) But Giron insists this statement was made over the phone.
Abner denies all allegations that he threatened Giron, either by phone or e-mail.
"At no time did I or anyone affiliated with Bushwick Flea ever threaten anyone either verbally or in writing, and that accusation is just a lie," he said. "One of many made up by Giron and perpetuated in certain media. Our interactions with the family next door over the last six months could not have been more respectful and neighborly."
According to Giron's phone records, Giron made an outgoing call to Abner at 3:10 p.m. on August 31st. He says that he decided to place the call (which he did not record) because Abner had not yet responded to an e-mail sent the previous evening.
Giron's initial e-mail states: "It has come to our attention that someone affiliated with the 'Bushwick Flea' has painted a mural on the wall of [my aunt's] property without her consent or approval. We would also like to inform you that 56 Wyckoff is the private residence... and we have not consented to you using our property for your marketing or recreational purposes."
Giron said this morning that he made the call at work, and, on his boss's recommendation, took notes after the fact.
"I am not surprised at all that Abner would deny that the was being hostile," he said. "Certainly this is his way of displacing the blame. He started out asking me, 'Who is this?' I said I was the nephew of the owner, and repeated that he didn't ask permission. That's when he started getting aggressive. He said, 'What's the problem? This is art. This is Bushwhick. It's happening all over the place."
According to Giron, Abner blamed the lot's rat problem on his aunt's Salvadorian food, which she occasionally sells in the front yard, and ended the call with the line, "Have your lawyer get in touch with me."
"His allegations are false," Abner said this morning. "I stand by my email which clearly shows the neighborly tone we've had since the beginning. He's an instigator trying to anger people for his own agenda."
Abner shared the apology e-mail with us, which was sent on August 31st, less than a half hour after he got off the phone with Giron. From the e-mail:
Our market has cleaned up that corner of the block and made it nice. Every Sat and Sun morning I pick up all the garbage in front of my property and in front of your aunts. I want to get along. I am sorry we didnt ask your permission. It seemed that you wouldnt mind because its artwork and you cant even see it. Can we compromise and we will take it down at the end of October. I want to be good neighbors who help each not fight. I dont want this to escalate further.
"Honestly your article really made a much bigger problem for me personally than was really necessary," Abner told us this morning. "I have been threatened because of it, all because of your bad reporting. Everyone online has jumped all over the fact that I threatened [Giron], that I’m disrespectful, that I’m a racist, all because of your... bad reporting. And if I got jumped or shot or killed, it would have been your fault, okay?"
"The reason why people are mad at [Abner] is not just because they believe me, but also because they are seeing some of the stuff that he put on social media," Giron said. "For Rob Abner to come into our community with such open hostility towards us... it's absolutely appalling."
