[racehorse]

haven't seen this posted here before, so hear we go...

Tonic, located at 107 Norfolk Street, closed its doors on Friday April 14, 2007 due to rent increases imposed by landlord William Gottleid Inc. On Saturday the 15th, and ad hoc coalition organized a demonstration and the club was occupied by musicians, artists, poets and fans with the intention to impress upon the city how important an experimental venue is to them. It was a wonderful day of music and good feelings. At around 4pm, upon the arrival of the police, Tonic was handed over. When the police officers requested that Marc Ribot and Rececce Moore vacate the premises, they refused and were arrested. An important act of civil disobediance. They did this for all of us.
Due to the peaceful nature of the demonstration, and the support of a lawyer from the musicians union, they were not kept overnight and were released after a few hours with a court date.

With the club's closure, we are making an appeal to the City to secure for the music community. The loss of Tonic has meant a diminishment of our livelihoods, and has dealt a real blow to NYC's position as a cultural capital.


The coalition is asking:


1. that the city council adopt a general principle similar to European cultural policy: That NYC's new music and experimental jazz culture is a unique asset, and an essential part of the city's history, economy, and identity, and not to be left entirely at the mercy of market forces.

2. That the city recognize the damage done to its cultural heritage and status as a "cultural capitol" by the displacement of venues central to experimental musics, and act now to protect
those venues still left from displacement either by providing funding sufficient to allow them to withstand the explosion of commercial rents, or by legislation forcing landlords to restrict rents of culturally valuable venues, or both. Non-commercial musics have a considerable government support abroad - completely disproportionate with their profile in NYC, as even a brief visit to http://europejazz.net/, the European jazz network website will confirm. Venues that present this music regularly recieve subsidies in countries outsite of the US, ensuring that both the venues that present this music and the musicials who compose and perform it, can continue to thrive -- a sensibility which only exists for classical and commercial rock music in this country. Such a commitment to a thriving experimental community of artists, presenters and audiences in New York would have an impact even beyond basic ongoing support for places to play and hear this music. Tourists from abroad, often fortunate enough to live in cities where this music is regularly presented, can and do travel to New York to hear this music in its native setting.

3. That New York City donate to a non-profit organization an experimental music venue which is able to hold an audience of 200, and is centally located in the birth place of much of the experimental music scenes - that is, the Lower East Side.

As a vibrant community of musiciant and artists, we are coming together to say we deserve a space and in essence, we have already paid for our space. Musiciant contribute to the economy of this city every day with world class performances, In the case of Tonic, many musicians came together and invested in the space. Through benefits and organizing they raised significant sums of money (100+ grand) for the venue, "Tonic". The city needs to acknowledge this. It is good for the city and good for the artists and their audiences that the city make available a venue which holds up to 200 audience members. It is important that it be certrally located in the LES where this serious alternative music has been birthed and where it can be easily accessed by audiences.


Background Information

A vibrant community of musicians and fans worked for year to maintain Tonic - raising over $100,000 through benefit concerts a and donations to pay off debt, fund repairs, buy a sound system, and keep the club open in the devastating week following 9/11/01. Tonic is the last venue of its kind in Manhattan with capacity above 90, presenting concerts on a nightly basis. It is the last such venue in NYC with the relatively friendly policy of paying 75% of door receipts.
Coming on the heelds of the closing CBGB's, Sine, Fez, The Continental, and numerous other downtown venues, the closing of Tonic represents the shutting down of NYC's important live music experimental jazz, and new music scene. This wave of club closings constitudes a market failure. If there is not immediate and sufficient public intervention, either in the form of limiting rents, or supplying alternate space and funding, or both, New York City will lose and essential part of its heritage, culture and economy.
The closing of Tonic has meant a diminishment of livelihood for those musicians who were able to work there. Tonic like Knitting Factory before them, booked more and more rock bands, not because they necessarily drew larger audiences but because rock audiences drink more. Thr existence of cutting edge avant garde jazz or new music should not be dependant on how much alcohol their audiences consume.

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

http://www.takeittothebridge.com/cgi...ition_tonic.pl