Hey people,

We need a roommate for April 1. It's $800/mo for rent.

Last Resort Art Space does not exist as a venue any more, I just keep this myspace up for nostalgia's sake and for staying connected to people who were into what I was doing with the events and concerts here.  Sometimes people add us, and it seems like they think I am still putting on events. Nope, I am not., and if I were I wouldn't be doing them at this location due to the problems I had.

But what does go on around here is a lot of music-making. If you ever made it out to the events you know we have a huge apartment. We have a rehearsal space that I've stocked with good gear - pretty much every thing you need to make music, rehearse with your band or record. It's a great living space - each roommate has a large 12ft. X 12ft. private room. We have a nice kitchen and bathroom. There's plenty of open space inside - more than enough room to practice dance or martial arts forms or to work out and we have a bench and a heavy bag.  And then there's the patio, which is especially great now that the warm weather is approaching - and we have grills and outdoor tables and stuff for that.

We are looking for some one cool and easy to get along with to move in. You don't have to play music, but you do need to be cool about letting others use the rehearsal space for band or solo practice at reasonable times.

The cops haven't been here in ages, so there's no need to worry about that. But then again, they haven't been around b/c we haven't had any more of the massive parties/concerts we used to have. We can't risk having any more trouble so don't move in expecting to get that going again.
But rehearsing and recording music until midnight on weeknights and even later on weekends, we don't  run into any problems. So if making music is important to you, you like being around it or you like being in a creative environment, this is a great place to be.

Contact me at thebooder at hotmail dot com or at 917.443.8815 if you're interested and want to see what the place looks like when it's a nice quiet apartment (instead of a concert venue). If you have not been here before, take a look at the photos of our events to get an idea of what a nice, big place it is, or just call me to come by and check it out.

Later,

Derek

LAST CALL


The link above is to an article I found in the Post today. 

The NYC office of the NY State Liquor Aunthority (NYSLA), currently headed by former cop Daniel Boyle, is doing all it can to make 2:00AM the de facto closing time for NYC bars.  According to the article, in the East Village and the LES, no liquor licenses were approved in November, December or January  for  any bars that planned to stay open past 2:00AM on weekdays or 3:00AM on weekends. 

State law allows bars to stay open and serve alcohol until 4:00AM.  This law can only be changed by the state legislature, or perhaps a local law could be enacted at the city or county level that would enforce a stricter time, as I do believe such laws exist for certain counties in NY State.   Nonetheless, it is not within the power of a local office of the NYSLA, a bureaucratic and administrative body, to enact or repeal legislation.  Yet this bureacratic body is taking a very active role here in NYC.

The NYSLA's job is to examine applications for liquor licenses and permits and, based on the merits of the application, decide whether or not to grant the license.  Based on the information in this article, it appears that the NYSLA has decided to simply not grant licenses to bars that do not reach out to community boards in their neighborhoods and work out an agreement whereby the bar closes earlier than time to which it legally has a right to stay open under state and local law.  Bar owners are making such agreements only because, with rent and start-up costs to pay, they are anxious to open their doors.  If they do not willingly make such agreements, their application for a license will not be granted, and they will not be able to open.

In effect, the NYSLA is making 2:00AM the closing time for NYC bars.  And we are not talking about quiet, residential neighborhoods.  This is going in the Village, the East Village and the LES. 

Anybody moving into these neighborhoods should know that these neighborhoods have long been centers for nightlife in this city (and they once were centers for alternative culture, although that has been on the wane recently with encroaching yuppie-dom).  You can't move into neighborhoods like these and then get mad because there are bars open and people enjoying themselves late into the night on your street.  The bars and music venues were there before you and deserve to stay.  If you want quiet, move to the Upper East Side or the suburbs.  You have no right to move into a lively neighborhood, force up rents and kick out every thing that's cool. 

This article relates to my own experieince as well.  You may recall or read on this page how my loft parties at Last Resort repeatedly faced harassment by the NYPD.  I finally learned how to and did obtain a beer permit to protect myself from corrupt police officers' threats to charge me with illegal liquor sales ( I was not selling liquor at my parties).  This permit allowed me to sell at our last 2 parties on 11/16/07 and 11/17/07.  The cops came to the 11/17/07 party and were able to charge me and arrest me  even though I had the permit  because in fine print on the face of the permit it stated that it was not valid after 1:00AM.  I had unfortunately assumed that the permit would be valid until 4:00AM, since that is state and local law and nothing on the NYSLA website or permit application nor any representative I spoke to at the NYSLA office ever indicated to me that the permit would only be granted under stricter terms than the law allows. 

Distraught by my situation I called the NYSLA office and spoke to the representative that granted me the permit.  (to be continued  - I have to leave so I will finish writing this later.)

Well Holy Shit, we can't keep them away!



There hasn't been a party at the loft since 11/17/07, and there probably never will be a party there again. But the cops know who we are and came to check things out again around 5am on Sat 04/05/08 (ie this past Friday night).



Luckily, there was no party. It was just a handful of people hanging out. Lucas had some cute, little girls visiting him from Spain, and the rest of the gang was there too. Mike and Mauricio decided to jam a bit, and I jumped in with them.



Admittedly, Mauricio was fucking loud. Mike does bang the hell out of those drums, but it doesn't take that much volume to match him. While I was playing with them, Angela (one of Lucas's friends) told me I needed to turn up even more because the bass was much louder than me. When I got it right I was at twice the volume I normally play at in rehearsals with my band. Maybe I should have said something about the volume.



But you know what, we used to always have all night jams - and we never had a problem. It was like the neighbors didn't care about the music. Hell, they didn't even report the smaller parties - like 11/16/07 which had under 100 people. It was as if they only got freaked out when we had a lot of people at the place.



So even since 11/17/07, no more parties - we didn't want to risk that - but yes we had late night jams. And that's what I loved about this place. The freedom to be a musician. To play loud music late at night (only on a weekend night btw - I do the 9-5 grind myself and respect the need to sleep, and I've worked weird hours and know that if you need to sleep at weird times you just get used to sleeping through noise and activity). So that freedom may be ever the more curtailed now.



And how did they get in? A person who shall remain nameless, a once-welcome guest at our house was leaving, and there they were waiting. They were thus able to catch the door downstairs that normally locks itself. Then to walk upstairs and enter the other door, which was unlocked due to this person's exit. I guess we can't really blame him, but couldn't he have called quickly and warned us. I know that several minutes passed since the time he walked out the door and the cops walked in. We had enough time to go lock the inner door in that time.



Uggggh, I am so sick of seeing cops walk through my door. I have had it. I never want to see a cop in my loft again. That's it - I'm done with it.



There were a shitload of them - like 10 or so. They were alright, but they still acted like cops. They did walk through and pull every one out into the main room, but they were calm and approachable this time. They looked in askance at the flyers for Nechama's Bike Porn event (which already happened back in March, at a rented theater in midtown) that were laying on the table. Mauricio thankfully talked to them (I am done talking with cops) and told them we were just jamming, that we aren't having parties any more etc. When they asked, "who lives here?", his "lots of people" answer was classic.



And then, with nothing to see and no party going on, they left. And we ran to lock the door behind them. The Spanish girls were like "Pero joder, cabron!!"  (Translation: "WTF???") and all we could say was…



WELCOME TO NEW YORK!!!

This is an old description of events that I removed from the main page. It concerns my court case. I am keeping it here in a blog in case people are interested in what happened.



After writing all this, I spoke to my attorney about my concerns and he assured me that I got a good deal, that the DA realized this was probably a worthless case and that’s why they made their offer and that there are no negative repercussions or ramifications I will have to face down the road as a result of this. But then since I talked to my attorney, more people, whose opinion I respect, have told me that told me this will cause me trouble down the road, and that my friend who first pointed that out to me is right.



Anyway here’s the text I removed from the main page:




Anyway my attorney agreed the charges against me were silly. He went and tried to talk to the DA about it. From the back of the courtroom, I could see the DA let him talk to the hand and respond with a curt "ACD". Then my attorney comes up to me and explains that he had been talking to the DA over the phone in the days before the case and that they are willing to offer me an ACD which he recommends I take. ACD stands for Adjournment in Consideration of Dismissal. It is not an admission of guilt, he says. It means that if I don’t get in trouble for the next 6 months my case will be dismissed and more importantly sealed so that there is not a record of it. Not knowing a damn thing about any of this, having the case sealed and supposedly off my record sounds like a good thing, and in the back of my mind I know that if I decide to fight the this I will probably have to come back to court and also pay my attorney more money. That would be money I don’t have since all the profits I made from the party went to paying my attorney for this one appearance. I sounds like a good deal, so I give my consent.



My attorney goes back to sit in the attorney seating area at the front, and we wait for my case to be called. A few cases go up before me. For one of them, a guy is being charged with possession of marijuana. The DA says he is offering the defendant an ACD. The judges asks the defendant if he accepts the offer of ACD and he gives consent. My case is called up and follows pretty much the same pattern. My attorney and I go out to the hall to talk briefly before he cuts out of there. For the ACD to go through I have to stay out of trouble for 6 months. I explain to him how I would like to keep having parties, that I’ll have them not in my loft but in different locations, that I know how the beer permit process works now so I will read the fine print and end the parties at 1:00am, but it could still happen that the police find a way to pin some kind of bullshit charge on me - obviously honesty is not a concern of the enforcers of the law - what do I do if that happens? His advice to me is to get someone else to apply for the beer permit and to be the responsible party, just in case there’s an issue.



After my court appearance, every one’s asking me how it went. It sounds good to most of them - I am after all not being charged with any thing - but one friend of mine, who describes himself as having some experience with the criminal justice system, gave a different take on the events. He said he hated to burst my bubble, but the ACD is bad news. He described the ACD as a get-out-of-jail-free card that the DA gives you the first time you get charged with some thing. They don’t want you to get off with nothing, but your "crime" is pretty insignificant so it’s not really worth the time and taxpayer expense for them to actively prosecute the case - so they offer the ACD. My friend said the fact that the case is sealed is meaningless, he said he’s learned that no matter what you do, if you go to court, even if it’s dismissed, there is a paper trail, and if they see you in court again, whether you did any thing wrong or not, whether you were convicted of any thing or not, they are going to see that old dismissal and it will reflect poorly on you, such that they will not offer you a similar deal next time law enforcement sends you to court unjustly. Then you will have to fight it and pay a ton for attorney fees, and your prior appearance makes a judge more likely to think that you are a criminal and deserving of punishment. Every one’s so smart, my friend says, the DAs and attorneys, they think they know the system, and no body wants to take the time to find out what really happened as opposed to what the cops say happened - it’s all a bullshit game and in the end it’s the falsely accused who get screwed.



I took my friend’s opinion into consideration, but I did not wholeheartedly accept it. I googled ACD. Wikipedia said it is commonly offered to those charged with possession of marijuana, causing me to recall the case called before mine. That made my friend’s advice sink in a little more. That’s bullshit. I don’t agree with the laws against the use of marijuana in this country because I believe in freedom rather than prohibition, but any one who knows me knows I don’t smoke, and no matter what your opinion on the use of this drug, it is a crime. I had a party. I never had an interest in selling alcohol at my parties, but I was forced to get a beer permit because police repeatedly threatened to shut my parties down by busting me for illegal alcohol sales because the law says that if you have more than 20 people in a location where they are drinking alcohol you must have a permit or license, whether alcohol is being sold or not. My mistake was not shutting down the party at 1:00am, because I did not realize that limit was stated (along with a typo in the date, oddly enough, which I would think would make this cut-off time on the permit invalid) in fine print on the permit. Is that actually a serious crime? Is throwing a party an offense of the same gravity as possession of marijuana? Then why am I being offered the same deal offered to those caught with marijuana?



That’s when I realized my friend was right about the ACD. This is bullshit. I did no wrong, I committed no crime. If someone does a background check on me and sees I was offered an ACD, and it is sealed like it is scheduled to be in 6 months, aren’t they likely to assume that I got caught with marijuana, when I did nothing of the kind. So now I have a record, and I will only encounter more trouble if I am ever unjustly arrested and brought to court again. All because some asshole cops are not decent enough to ask me to shut my party down peacefully when they get a noise complaint. They have to bust in like it’s a raid and abuse their authority to force me not to have any more music concerts. They search for whatever technicality they can get me on, and when they realize that’s probably not a very strong case, they lie to make the charges appear to have more merit.



That’s what’s really troubling to me. If the cops are willing to lie about my little case - to lie about someone who is completely innocent, who did not commit a crime and who they did not witness committing a crime or collect any evidence against, to lie about some one who is entirely clean and has no criminal record, who is not a threat to society, some one who puts on events that are fun and are a stimulus to music, art and culture, but to lie and charge this person with a crime, just because they might have to respond to a noise complaint once a month - what else are they willing to lie about? Such people are a danger to a free society and have no right to be in law enforcement. They should be dishonorably relieved of their positions immediately.



But in America you get what justice you can pay for. I am going to do what I can to see that the officers who lied regarding my case are punished as they should be. Call me cynical, but I don’t expect much to happen. It’s not some thing I have the luxury of spending money on, just as I had no money (aside from the profits from the last party) to spend on my defense and, even if I did, cops are too often given the benefit of the doubt just because they wear the badge, which is why they think they can get away with lying in the first place.



As for future events, I definitely cannot risk any charges until the 6 month period for my ACD to become an actual dismissal is complete. Whatever the implications of having an ACD on my record, I am willing to risk the consequences of throwing a concert once this case is sealed.

Here’s an old response of mine to the events of 11/17/07, which I wanted to remove from the main page. I’m keeping it as a blog because it may have some details left out of what is now on the page.





No more events will be happening at 8-63. I got arrested at the last party, for completely bullshit reasons. I was totally legit, I had beer permits allowing me to sell and permission from my landlord to throw the party. America is not a free country. If a fascist asshole of a police sergeant decides that he doesn’t want you having parties in your loft space, then he will bend the law and find a way to make it so that you cannot have parties. Any aims you have of re-energizing the nearly dead New York music scene with monthly parties don’t mean a thing, despite how important live music has been historically to the culture and allure of this city. What matters is that a fat police sergeant should not have to leave the station on a quiet Saturday night in Astoria. He should not have to respectfully tell you to either quiet down your guests or stop your party. How dare you throw parties? How dare you question the authority of the police to put you in jail for throwing a party? New York’s finest - doing their best to serve our community and keep criminals behind bars.


This is not the end. I go to court in February - wish me luck. Meanwhile, I am looking for warehouse space. Preferably a place without neighbors who might make a noise complaint, thus bringing the cops.



The owner of the property needs to be willing to sign my application for a beer permit. NY State Law says 20 or more people gathered in an area where alcohol is present constitutes an illegal liquor "sale" if there is no permit or license, whether or not alcohol is actually being sold. Thus, I must have at least a permit for all my parties. The problem last time was a typo on the permit that the cops took advantage of to mess with me. That won’t happen again, now I know to look for it when I get the permit. I will get everything squared away so that next time, even if the cops come, their only concern will be not letting the door hit them in the ass on the way out. Or better yet, wishing they weren’t on duty so they could come join the party. I’ve heard that nice, normal cops exist in NYC, this is not just a dream - eyewitnesses have told me they have met such rare personages. I hope some day to meet them too.



I want the space for a night or two. I’ll carry my PA, speakers, mics and stuff down there and the bands will be responsible for bringing amps and drums. I may have to shut the parties down at 1 am now, but that’s plenty of time for several bands to play. I’ll clean up the mess that night or the next day.



Anyone who wants to volunteer to help keep the Last Resort parties going please let me know. I’ll need door people, bar people and clean up crew. Door people and bar people actually made decent money last time from splitting the bar tips. Clean up is something I think everyone should help out on a little if you enjoy attending these parties. Anyone who wants practice doing live sound can let me know, and I’ll show you what to do to make the bands sound great.



Once I find a good space and get my court stuff squared away, I’ll set up another event.



Thank you every one for making this as fun as it’s been (despite the hassles, that you are not responsible for).



Love,



Derek

So I’m still waiting for the case against me to get dismissed, but in the meantime I have been working on my own music: I’m doing shows with my band Dared The Knot, and I’ve started a new project called Malperduys. Check out Dared The Knot if you haven’t yet, and check out Malperduys at

myspace.com/malperduys

I'm moving the Manifesto from the main page, but wanted to keep it up somewhere, so here it is in a blog. Yes, it's a bit heavy-handed, but it allowed me to vent after getting out of jail on a cold Sunday morning (for doing nothing wrong) and also allowed me to formulate a plan for the future.




The Last Resort Manifesto:



Last Resort Art Space was a loft apartment with a rooftop patio, an adorable dog, and indoor bicycle parking. We threw house parties featuring bands and DJs. We brought cool live music to Astoria, but the agents of authority have us on their radar and they will do anything they can to stop us.



Last Resort Art Space is an ever-changing, mobile venue. We rent out or use warehouse and club space throughout the City and the greater metropolitan area where we throw parties featuring local and underground bands, djs and artists. We are law-abiding, respectful citizens that have become targets of fascism and those with the authority to administer the law. We have been pushed from our home and forced to resort to guerrilla warfare. When authority attacks we will disperse and reform in the empty spaces that authority ignores. We will find the places where we can be free to enjoy ourselves and when those places are threatened we will quietly disappear and find the next place where we can do what we wish in peace.



We recognize that music and the arts are the lifeblood of this City. They are what makes this city what it is - they are its inspiration, its magnetic attraction, its release of the tension and pent-up energy caused by so many people living on top of each other as well as the day-to-day bothers, demands and unrealized desires of life. We recognize that it is the right of all people to find a place where they can let loose and be free, where they can express themselves through art and music or find meaning in the expression of others. All people have the right to find a place where they can connect with others. We provide all-ages shows to the community because it is the right of all people, whether they are of the age of 15 or 97, to feel the unique energy and connection created when a diverse group of individuals meet to share their expression and tastes under the same roof. We will always follow the law because we do not wish to disrespect orderly society, but when representatives of that society threaten us because they are jealous of our ability to find freedom in spite of their constrictions we will move on and find a new place. This is not our last resort because there is always one more stand to take, one more step ahead and another place of freedom to be found. Because we move on and continue each event is never our last, rather each new step becomes our next Last Resort.



Seriously, who ever thought that throwing a great party was such a big deal and a threat to society that it had to be stopped? Isn't it rather a boon to society, an outlet and a source of creativity, culture and connection that should be respected and fostered?



The following is to remain as a reminder of how our events are structured until we schedule the next event. Anyone who knows of a good warehouse or other space, far from residences, where we can have an event without getting harassed, please contact us. We will be looking for such spaces ourselves and will notify everyone when our next event is scheduled. As before, we will obtain the necessary licensing or permits and abide by the laws as they are in this strange, fearful, Puritan-influenced, authoritarian country of ours, but people will at least be able to listen to music and enjoy each other's company and find freedom in that: (this was followed by the text about the last weekend of shows at 8-63, now posted in the blog below).




Also here's my unfinished and long-winded description of the events leading up to my arrest on 11/17/07:



What Happened:



On Saturday, November 17, 2007, Last Resort Art Space had an awesome party going. Turnout was around 200, making it one of our largest parties (along with the shows on 09/20/07 and 10/27/07). All day leading up to the show was fraught with difficulties - one band had dropped out earlier in the day before the party began, saying a band member was sick, and Guayakill had to deal with their drummer quitting on them that morning - but every one pulled through (Guayakill, for example, called up their old drummer and rehearsed like mad before coming to the show – their set was so good I don't think anyone would have known they were playing with a replacement drummer had they not said anything) and all the bands did an awesome job. After the bands were done a dj played and most of the people hung out for a good while. We had security personnel at this show keeping an eye on things so nobody did anything incredibly stupid, as has happened at past shows.



Around 2:30 AM, NYPD showed up. The bands had been done and the dj had been playing for about an hour. I was on the roof at the time the cops entered. Having finally counted up the door money, I was paying the bands and security. I did not see the cops come in the door, but I can say that they came out to the roof like they were a fucking SWAT team. They were screaming and they were aggressive. Keep in mind that this is for a group of mellow party-goers, just talking, dancing and having a good time. I guess their rationale was that, with out a warrant or probable cause, they needed a serious amount of attitude and hostility to enter my loft without permission. The cops put out the impression that if someone were to approach them in order to speak to them they
would attack, with force, and call it self-defense, as New York cops are wont to do. They yelled at every one outside to get up against the fence as if they were criminals. I kept my eye on the sergeant in charge, trying to make eye contact and waiting for him to calm the fuck down so I could finally speak to him. The sergeant, with his taser at his side, kept storming around insanely. With his big frame, heavy paunch, artless crew cut, black boots, dark uniform and scowling, Aryan features, he not only acted like a Nazi, he fucking looked like one. He marched up to the window leading inside the apartment and yelled for the owner of the place. Even though he was still behaving erratically, I stepped up and announced myself.



This was the same sergeant who shut down my Halloween Party on October 27. At that party he threatened to bust me for illegal liquor sales even though I was not selling alcohol. I was under the impression that one could have a party in one's apartment and have a keg and allow people to bring drinks in even if you charged a small door fee just to pay for the expenses of the event and have a little to give to the bands. In the midst of his rant, the sergeant picked up some flyers for upcoming shows that my roommate and I had with our own bands and started yelling, "this party's not happening... and this party's not happening," etc. until I informed him that those were shows out at other clubs, not at our loft space. Then the sergeant left, telling me, "don't do it again," which I found to be a very ambiguous statement. What exactly was I not supposed to do again. Not have a party? - since when can the police tell you whether or not you can have a party in your house. What kind of fascist state do we live in where it is possible for some pissy, little police sergeant to decide he's had enough of you and your parties and can dictate what you choose to do in your own home and barge on in there and stop it, without a warrant, whenever he wants to. Why can't the police be reasonable, talk to us normally and treat us like the law-abiding citizens that we are?



Since that incident on the 27th, I worked on figuring out what I could do to keep my parties going. The police had come to our party on October 20, but did not shut it down or even enter the apartment. People saw them arrive before they got inside so my roommate Nechama got all our guests off the roof and inside the apartment and went down to the street to talk to them. All they asked is that we keep people from going to the roofs of buildings adjacent to ours, which is something we show our guests so they can see then great view of the city we have. We immediately complied with this request, and it has been a rule at our parties ever since. The cops were happy with the outcome and left. The success of that encounter led me to think that perhaps I should go down to the 114th Precint and talk to the police about how we could communicate better. I should be allowed to continue having parties in my home when I please, but if there are neighbors complaining on a particular night or other issues, the cops can ask me to turn it down or even shut it down and I will oblige. I have no intention of being a bad neighbor. They don't need to rush in here like they are busting up a bunch of criminals. They can stay outside my apartment where they belong, I can come down and talk to them and I can carry out whatever they ask of me, including shutting down the party.



So I thought about going down and talking to them, some of them had to be reasonable people. Maybe even the sergeant who busted up the party on the 27th would be rational and approachable in a different situation. I was, however, advised against doing this. My boss has a lot of friends that are cops and I told him about the incident on the 27th. He said he had a friend in 114th Precint who he would talk to. When he got back to me, my boss said his friend said I definitely should not go try to talk to the 114th. He said that if I went down to the station the cops would say, "who the fuck is this guy? I don't want to talk to you. Get the fuck out here." He said it was best for me to just stay off their radar. Unfortunately, on the 27th, the sergeant who busted up my party told me that I was on his radar.



I was seriously worried about the sergeant's threat, so I let all the bands that I had already booked for November 17 know that I might have to make it a dry party. I also had Mattio from Maxwell's Demon asking me about doing a charity event for a local food bank and the City Reliquary on November 16, and I wanted to be able to offer them the space. I researched the liquor laws thoroughly. A full liquor license is around $4k, prohibitively expensive unless you are a full-time bar open year round. My little loft space with monthly shows could not support that fee, but then I discovered that one could apply for a temporary beer permit for a small fee of $36. The permit allowed beer and wine on site, but no liquor. That was doable – people only need beer to have a party. Each permit was good for 24 hours, with respect to the local liquor laws for the county in which the event was held (sales are legal until 4 AM in all of New York City). The permit would allow the City Reliquary to sell beer in order to raise funds, which they wanted to do so that they could offer free entry to their event to those who brought a can of food. I filled out the applications for the permits, paid the fees, drew a diagram of the street I live on (which is mostly junkyards, empty lots and storage warehouses) and got my landlord to sign off on the permits, acknowledging that he was granting us permission to have our events.



Then it was time to sit and wait for two weeks to see if my applications would go through. I found out that the permits were approved just two days before the events. I was really excited that I got them. I rushed down to the NY State Liquor Authority office in Harlem to pick them up and notified Mattio and all the bands that we would be able to have our parties without getting shut down by the cops. The threats of one asshole sergeant didn't matter, we were completely legit - we had permits!



The November 16 party went off without a hitch. It was decent size, perhaps 75 people at its height, but not packed like many of our recent parties. The bands played awesome sets, the djs got a great dance party going afterwards and it was a really fun night. Lots of cans of food were collected, the City Reliquary folks were quite happy with the money they made off beer sales and, best of all, no cops came at all. The party went until quite late too.



But here they were, the police, on very next night, November 17, busting into my loft like they were conducting a raid. Here was the same sergeant who had made so many threats on October 27, yelling for me. I told him I was not the owner of the place, but that it was a loft space that I rented and that this was my party. I spoke to him as calmly and serenely as possible, as he was very agitated and few things are as dangerous and unpredictable as an angry cop – especially NYPD. These guys are so used to thinking that they ARE authority, instead of ordinary citizens to whom we have given only a limited amount of authority, restricted by too often ignored laws, so that they may serve us, enforce our laws and protect us from real criminals that might harm us. A criminal may be able to take you out, if he has enough physical strength or the right weaponry, but a cop can take you out and then book you for being his placid victim.



I'm still working on this – I will finish it soon. For now just know that I went to jail for a typo on my beer permit - to get issued a summons. There was no reason I needed to go to jail and stay there all night, there was no reason I needed to be cuffed and led out of my loft. Even issuing me the summons was complete bullshit since beer permits are good for 24 hours and you just request the time you want them for.

I just wanted to move these off the main page but not delete them. So I've moved them to the blog. They are a reminder to me of what I need to get back to once I'm done with my legal wrangles. I also think my words here promoting these shows clearly show that I am lawful and respectful of others and doing this because I want to support the scene - thus NYPD's harassment of me is unwarranted and malicious.








And we have TWO exciting events coming up!


We have Temporary Beer & Wine Permits for both of these next 2 shows. Things will be a little different than in the past. No more BYOB. No liquor is allowed on our premises - that would violate our permit. If you want to drink then you must be 21 and have an acceptable form of ID with you (driver's license, passport or military ID - student IDs are not acceptable). No matter how old you are you will not be allowed in with alcohol or with opened bottles of any kind.


If you see people throwing bottles from our roof or doing other stupid shit, let us know so we can stop it. Respect our space and make others respect it.


We want to keep the music going.


I'm also looking for volunteers to help me run the Saturday night show and future shows. Message me at La Stresor Tarts Pace (all one word, all lower case - spam, you know) at yahoo dot com if you want to help. Thanks.


For Cranksgiving on Fri 11/16/07: Free entry with a can of food for the hungry or $100 entry with no can. The City Reliquary will have beer for sale and all the money you spend on beer will benefit their efforts of preserving New York history and promoting bicycle use.





Mattio and the folks from the City Reliquary set this one up, so I don't have websites for the bands, but Maxwell's Demon played here last month and had some nice songs and switched instruments just for fun. And Slow/Dynamite are a very interesting improv duo who played here back in February.




For Sat 11/17/07: $5 entry fee. Beer will be cheap - around $3 ea for a 12oz. cup. Tip your bartender.






The Genuine Imitations





Paparazzi





WHYTAMBO





Guayakill





The Stoics



The Stoics will be shooting a video at LRAS this night, because we're their favorite place to play. Come on out and be in the video. The Stoics had an amazing show last time they played here with their shoegaze-inspired rock. Guayakill, who have hung out here before, are, with their friends Whytambo, bringing rock en Espanol to LRAS for the first time with hi-energy punk and ska-punk, respectively. Paparazzi are coming down from Boston and promise an experience like "being on two rollercoasters at once...with a dick machine," while the Genuine Imitations are representing White Plains with a likeable indie sound.


Thanks to Manu from Guayakill for the lovely flyer (artwork by Jarnot).

Yes, we plan on having a monstrously good time at the Last Resort Art Space Halloween Party this Saturday, 10/27/07.


The party starts at 8pm and goes until you leave. As always it's byob, but we will have some stuff there. If you're over 21, bring your ID if you want to drink.


It's $7 to get in but only $5 if you wear a costume. It will be so much cooler if the majority of people are wearing crazy costumes, so we highly encourage you to do so.


We have a great line-up:


MDi

Experimental, progressive-rock with seemingly indie and hardcore roots, similar to contemporaries like Incubus and Circa Survive, but even managing to show slight traces and influences from groups like The Mars Volta. They truly try to paint a surreal landscape with their music

www.myspace.com/mdi5


Dared The Knot

DTK plays industrial music with a progressive bent. Theirs is a fusion of electronic and heavy, guitar-driven musics using live instrumentation. It takes influence from bands like Nine Inch Nails, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Ministry, Massive Attack and Curve but has a sound uniquely its own (as adding those bands together would produce something unique). Edgy, goth and shoegaze-influenced rock and metal with electronica style beats and synths, loud and atmospheric guitars, live, soulful bass and lyrical vocals.

www.myspace.com/daredtheknot


Astrophel & Stella

A brand of melodic punk unique with the subtleties in their musicianship. Raw sound and the aggression, with the use of jazz chording and extremely technical drumming and super hooky choruses. These guys can appeal to hardcore kids as much as they would to indie pop kids, music snobs and trendy types can share a common interest.

www.myspace.com/aasnj


Kentucky Vampire Clan

Guitar driven "pop-core". Jangly guitars one moment to distorted chaos another, all with modern rock and pop leanings, with heartfelt emotional lyrics, likely taken out of a personal Mead notebook journal and experiences from the lead singer.

www.myspace.com/kentuckyvampireclan

If you hung out late at our last party then you already know about this. (I've been really busy, and just now had a chance to post this.)

At our Saturday 09/22/07 party someone stole Mauricio's iPod. It really sucks that someone would steal from us since we are trying to be cool and open up our apartment to people so they have a place to hear great music and have a good time. This is the first theft we have experienced. Mauricio was using his iPod to play music between the bands' sets and left it unattended late in the party, when we turned it off because there was a jam session going on. Someone asshole snagged it.

Please keep an eye out for this iPod. If anyone you know suddenly has a new iPod, or you hear of someone selling one or someone who you know was at the party suddenly gets some extra cash (like they would from selling an iPod), please let us know.

This iPod is an iPhoto. It is engraved with the owner's name on the back "Mauricio A. Alvarez". I think Mauricio said it is white and silver and something about how it's sort of broken - file transfer doesn't work properly with USB but does with Firewire. Anyway, the main thing is that it is 60G iPhoto with "Mauricio A. Alvarez" engraved on the back.

Please let us know if you hear of anyhting. Mauricio is offering a reward if it is returned to him, no questions asked. Even if you are the one that took it, you can turn it in for a reward (and wash some of your karma clean).

Thanks

Derek

Hey,

Every one who has come out to our awesome parties and shows, if you have some photos of the party and the space, please send them to us and we will post them up. We're usually too busy during the show to take photos ourselves, but I see that many of you do, and we only have a few photos posted up so far that don't quite convey what a blast it is to party at Last Resort. Send the photos too morpheus3747@yahoo.com . Put your name and we'll credit you for the photo if you want.

Thanks

Derek

I just wanna thank everyone who helped make our party on Saturday night such a great success. Thanks to the bands: Lachi, Kate Smackles, Red Lights to Rio, The Stoics, and M.D.i. They all played GREAT music and you should go to their upcoming shows, buy their CDs, tell your friends about them, etc. Thanks to Derek and Mauricio for cleaning like mad, both before the party and after. Thanks to everyone who brought food and drink. And thanks to you for coming out and having a good time. Hope to see you the next time- 10/20/07.

Love,
Nechama/LRAS

PS:I hope the guy who jumped off the roof 3 times is all right and that he learned his lesson, which is that you should not try to impress people by jumping off of roofs.

Check it out. The Texas Firehouse puts on visual art-performance art-experimental music warehouse parties on the LIC waterfront, just a few block south of Last Resort. Damn, we are lucky to have these guys as neighbors.

5 bands, $5.

Lachi
www.myspace.com/lachimusic or www.ulachi.com

Kate Smackles
www.virb.com/katesmackles or www.myspace.com/katesmackles

Red Lights to Rio
http://myspace.com/redlightstorio

The Stoics
www.myspace.com/endand

M. D. i.
myspace.com/mdi5

As always: BYOB, rooftop grilling (bring your own food), private loft party to which all are invited, all ages.

SATURDAY 7-7-07

4 PM: Rooftop party. We provide grills and charcoal. You provide grill-able food and/or drink to share.

9 PM: Rock show. $4 entrance. Featuring the following amazing-tastic line-up:

A Fistful of Dynamite
Suburban Riot
OUCH
Blanketstatementstein

UPDATE: one more band added, to play at 1 am... X Plane