111 First Arts Center

Kurt Von Ellers 111 First St., unit 6-2a/5-2c Jersey city, New Jersey 07302 11/17/04

This is a letter regarding the current situation at 111 first st. The happening and the unmitigated circumstances surrounding the arson of 11/7/04 and the chronicles of nonsense that followed therefore shortly after. I am a cabinet/furniture maker by trade but also hold a contractors license which I use from time to time. My history of construction is a wide variation of many trades. I have repointed the brick of Hudson River mansions such as Rokbey estates and painted the likes of the Edgewater mansion of Richard Jenerette. I have built the Christmas windows for Ralph Lauren's flagship stores on Madison Avenue for ten years in a row. I have personally built Mr. Lauren a few tables and completed many show rooms of different motifs. As far as contracting I have laid blackpipe for gas appliances as well as miles of plumbing and electrical conduit. I have plenty of roofing experience and frameing as well. So much that I wonder why I have'nt retired. But I am writing this affidavit to explain to you in clear headed common sense that the army that is on call here by the landlords nefarious contractor is not only overkill but completely unnecessary.

If you don't already know. The fire which broke out on the top floor was soon extinguished by the prompt eruption of the buildings sprinkler system. This can be attested to by the mere fact that the eight spaces below were completly deluged by water, ruining thousands of dollars and not to mention peoples life work. Quickly on the scene were Jersey City’s bravest who had to locate the space and breakin to breakout. Meaning this was one of about eighty-five spaces boarded up from the outside with multi-ply (4by8). Making it impossible to batter down a door covered up. The firefighter had to bust through the sheetrock of an ajoining space to kickout the plywood. Only then did they get in. As they entered they soon realized it took little to extinguish the blaze for the sprinkler system did it's job. Yet they remained —as they should— to keep watch. The arson investigators soon followed with questions for all.

As this fire was happening we discovered one of the riser pipes two floors below would not shut down. Try as I might I could not close the valve. This same system two years ago put a fire out right next to the space on fire with no problem. Why was this riser jammed? Then as it goes, in the basement of our building they discovered suspicious broken pipes that had to do with the sprinkler system (ss) of the building. Now they had to shut it down. I ask myself this question: Why all of a sudden when the landlord finally takes interest in this building we have been inhabiting for the last 15 years do things all of a sudden take a domino effect like arson,sprinkler system and gas for heat? Now mind you he has hired a family from this state to conduct these black ops while we watch sometimes in broad daylight. Why was the gas of the building turned off when they only had to shut it off at the source of the problem? Even the superior court judge Galipolli stressed that fact. To make matters worse, not to mention the freezing weather, they insisted on disconnecting the hanging gas heaters in every tenants and boarded up spaces to cap them and test the pressure. This plumbing is being done by three men of little means hired by management. So far we calculate at least four to five spaces a day get done and there are about 190 spaces. Meanwhile the thermometer hit 30 degrees and people were cold. We attended court the day after the fire and the landlords lawyer levied the (ss) as a factor of safety and the need to evacuate. The Honorable Judge Galipolli wasn't buying it. He told the lawyers to have the landlord put the gas on immediately. That was 11/8/04. It is now 11/17/04 and counting. I suspect that this landlord has no intentions of reconnecting the gas. What is happening in this building at this moment is that the contractor secured a permit to demolish the partitions of adjoining empty spaces. But to leave the hallway walls. As we thought, not only is he demolishing the partition walls but he is taking out the hallway walls also. He is running with it.

If you’re not familiar with what happened accross the street to our sister building 110. The contractor Antonio Ambrosio in the middle of the night ripped gigantic holes in the roof of 110 after taking off the brick parapet deeming it was falling apart. The hurricanes swept up the coast to batter and shellac the interior of the top floor. Of course whats going to happen is ultimate water damage. Now to watch this from my viewpoint I could only imagine situations in history where people look on in abject horror and say why. Such as the WTC attacks. Now this pales in comparison yet every step we took it seemed another floor came off till it is now a parking lot. That was an empty building. This isn't . Even though this building and others in the immediate area have been deemed landmarked and passed as a district, this will not deter the Ambrosio family and the landlord to do what they want.

We cannot seem to get through to the head of the building dept. Ray Meyers. Even though we converse with him outside it seems he feels more at ease smoking and joking as if it was a boys club outside the building with Ambrosio and associates. Ever so distant. Frankly this frightens me that someone could be in that position and not side with the citizens of his city. Then turn around for me to hear the reasons why he has opted to go with what ever Ambrosio wants to do. I have been in this construction business for twenty years with knucklebreaking hands-on experience. I have put myself through Bard College and joined the Marine Corp. As Shakespeare and myself say "there is something rotten in the state of 111 first street". We need to remedy this situation. We have been a productive community for the last ten years. We have bunkered in and buckled down, and now there are not only animals at the gate, they are inside.

The landlord Lloyd Goldman needs no introduction. He as we know is the prime lease holder of the World Trade Center. He bought the Sears tower in Chicago and flipped it to a Morrocan group for profits of 30 million. He owns the now defunct Enron building, a prime owner of a professional sports team in Canada. Numerous resort hotels in Cancun and Florida. A small city in Texas. The banks come to Lloyd Goldman when the they are brimming with forclosures. He makes a decision and will buy the lot. In Florida he bought 60,000 units and flipped them for a billion dollars profit. The Goldman family owns 2/3's of NYC. This is seen by the mere fact of visiting their offices at 52 Vanderbilt Ave. 16th flr. The red on the map of NYC depicts the property they own. It looks like the 2004 U.S. map of the presidential election. Then you will have to look at his shady past of having buildings delivered vacant. Whether by intimidation or arson he is very succesful. There was a club in the Bronx called Happyland. But it did'nt end up too happy. A fire broke out where 88 people perished. Lloyd Goldman was a 1/3'd owner and is now being sued for 10 million a life that was lost. He has been known to occupy his buildings with muscle and terror to enforce quick and immediate possesion through intimidation. One famous case we are all aware of was a woman who needed to leave her east village dwelling to convalesce in Florida because she had aids. He personally took interest and used the fact that she spent most of her time in florida than in her east village home. I need not tell you what it's like to have a billionaire take a personel interest in the eviction process. She took it to court after the fact, sued and won. The judge made Lloyd Goldman pay personally for damages he incurred through his process of eviction.

This is not a good man. We do not just fight this for ourselves. But for the cause of an arts district in an area that badly needs one. To be part of something. To believe in something and know that if it comes to fruition with or without us, we could say we had some small part of it at one time and pointed it in the right direction. The city needs also to be commended for taking back from the developers who so long controlled this area, the last stand of buildings on the waterfront. These belong to Jersey City. Not people from out of state. Not developers who build cookie cutter highrises full of transient people who don't vote and send a majority of their money back to the subcontinent. These belong to the people of Jersey City. But we are doing every possible thing to keep it that way. Yet the smell of mendacity permeates the air so strong it burns the spirit to cinders. Yet now they dig in all the court yards to undermine the integrity and strength of the building so it will be unsafe. Yet the city lets them, and we stand with our mouths agape knowing exactly whats next. When asked why. The explainations are gurgles of mistruths with backs turned away. I ask you this. If I was to buy both homes on each side of your property and raze them. Put a chainlink fence with broken down cars and pitbulls on chains. How would you deal with this? Because this is what where going through. Patience has turned to restraint. time is running out. When we are gone, please have the proper fare to New York City.

Dear Mr. Cotter, Director of City Planning............ PARIS IS BURNING!

kurt von ellers' letter
	Kurt Von Ellers 111 First St., unit 6-2a/5-2c Jersey city, New Jersey 07302 11/17/04 This is a letter regarding the current situation at 111 first st. The happening and the unmitigated circumstances surrounding the arson of 11/7/04 and the chronicles of nonsense that followed therefore shortly after. I am a cabinet/furniture maker by trade but also hold a contractors license which I use from time to time. My history of construction is a wide variation of many trades. I have repointed the brick of Hudson River mansions such as Rokbey estates and painted the likes of the Edgewater mansion of Richard Jenerette. I have built the Christmas windows for Ralph Lauren's flagship stores on Madison Avenue for ten years in a row. I have personally built Mr. Lauren a few tables and completed many show rooms of different motifs. As far as contracting I have laid blackpipe for gas appliances as well as miles of plumbing and electrical conduit. I have plenty of roofing experience and frameing as well. So much that I wonder why I have'nt retired. But I am writing this affidavit to explain to you in clear headed common sense that the army that is on call here by the landlords nefarious contractor is not only overkill but completely unnecessary. If you don't already know. The fire which broke out on the top floor was soon extinguished by the prompt eruption of the buildings sprinkler system. This can be attested to by the mere fact that the eight spaces below were completly deluged by water, ruining thousands of dollars and not to mention peoples life work. Quickly on the scene were Jersey City’s bravest who had to locate the space and breakin to breakout. Meaning this was one of about eighty-five spaces boarded up from the outside with multi-ply (4by8). Making it impossible to batter down a door covered up. The firefighter had to bust through the sheetrock of an ajoining space to kickout the plywood. Only then did they get in. As they entered they soon realized it took little to extinguish the blaze for the sprinkler system did it's job. Yet they remained —as they should— to keep watch. The arson investigators soon followed with questions for all. As this fire was happening we discovered one of the riser pipes two floors below would not shut down. Try as I might I could not close the valve. This same system two years ago put a fire out right next to the space on fire with no problem. Why was this riser jammed? Then as it goes, in the basement of our building they discovered suspicious broken pipes that had to do with the sprinkler system (ss) of the building. Now they had to shut it down. I ask myself this question: Why all of a sudden when the landlord finally takes interest in this building we have been inhabiting for the last 15 years do things all of a sudden take a domino effect like arson,sprinkler system and gas for heat? Now mind you he has hired a family from this state to conduct these black ops while we watch sometimes in broad daylight. Why was the gas of the building turned off when they only had to shut it off at the source of the problem? Even the superior court judge Galipolli stressed that fact. To make matters worse, not to mention the freezing weather, they insisted on disconnecting the hanging gas heaters in every tenants and boarded up spaces to cap them and test the pressure. This plumbing is being done by three men of little means hired by management. So far we calculate at least four to five spaces a day get done and there are about 190 spaces. Meanwhile the thermometer hit 30 degrees and people were cold. We attended court the day after the fire and the landlords lawyer levied the (ss) as a factor of safety and the need to evacuate. The Honorable Judge Galipolli wasn't buying it. He told the lawyers to have the landlord put the gas on immediately. That was 11/8/04. It is now 11/17/04 and counting. I suspect that this landlord has no intentions of reconnecting the gas. What is happening in this building at this moment is that the contractor secured a permit to demolish the partitions of adjoining empty spaces. But to leave the hallway walls. As we thought, not only is he demolishing the partition walls but he is taking out the hallway walls also. He is running with it. If you’re not familiar with what happened accross the street to our sister building 110. The contractor Antonio Ambrosio in the middle of the night ripped gigantic holes in the roof of 110 after taking off the brick parapet deeming it was falling apart. The hurricanes swept up the coast to batter and shellac the interior of the top floor. Of course whats going to happen is ultimate water damage. Now to watch this from my viewpoint I could only imagine situations in history where people look on in abject horror and say why. Such as the WTC attacks. Now this pales in comparison yet every step we took it seemed another floor came off till it is now a parking lot. That was an empty building. This isn't . Even though this building and others in the immediate area have been deemed landmarked and passed as a district, this will not deter the Ambrosio family and the landlord to do what they want. We cannot seem to get through to the head of the building dept. Ray Meyers. Even though we converse with him outside it seems he feels more at ease smoking and joking as if it was a boys club outside the building with Ambrosio and associates. Ever so distant. Frankly this frightens me that someone could be in that position and not side with the citizens of his city. Then turn around for me to hear the reasons why he has opted to go with what ever Ambrosio wants to do. I have been in this construction business for twenty years with knucklebreaking hands-on experience. I have put myself through Bard College and joined the Marine Corp. As Shakespeare and myself say "there is something rotten in the state of 111 first street". We need to remedy this situation. We have been a productive community for the last ten years. We have bunkered in and buckled down, and now there are not only animals at the gate, they are inside. The landlord Lloyd Goldman needs no introduction. He as we know is the prime lease holder of the World Trade Center. He bought the Sears tower in Chicago and flipped it to a Morrocan group for profits of 30 million. He owns the now defunct Enron building, a prime owner of a professional sports team in Canada. Numerous resort hotels in Cancun and Florida. A small city in Texas. The banks come to Lloyd Goldman when the they are brimming with forclosures. He makes a decision and will buy the lot. In Florida he bought 60,000 units and flipped them for a billion dollars profit. The Goldman family owns 2/3's of NYC. This is seen by the mere fact of visiting their offices at 52 Vanderbilt Ave. 16th flr. The red on the map of NYC depicts the property they own. It looks like the 2004 U.S. map of the presidential election. Then you will have to look at his shady past of having buildings delivered vacant. Whether by intimidation or arson he is very succesful. There was a club in the Bronx called Happyland. But it did'nt end up too happy. A fire broke out where 88 people perished. Lloyd Goldman was a 1/3'd owner and is now being sued for 10 million a life that was lost. He has been known to occupy his buildings with muscle and terror to enforce quick and immediate possesion through intimidation. One famous case we are all aware of was a woman who needed to leave her east village dwelling to convalesce in Florida because she had aids. He personally took interest and used the fact that she spent most of her time in florida than in her east village home. I need not tell you what it's like to have a billionaire take a personel interest in the eviction process. She took it to court after the fact, sued and won. The judge made Lloyd Goldman pay personally for damages he incurred through his process of eviction. This is not a good man. We do not just fight this for ourselves. But for the cause of an arts district in an area that badly needs one. To be part of something. To believe in something and know that if it comes to fruition with or without us, we could say we had some small part of it at one time and pointed it in the right direction. The city needs also to be commended for taking back from the developers who so long controlled this area, the last stand of buildings on the waterfront. These belong to Jersey City. Not people from out of state. Not developers who build cookie cutter highrises full of transient people who don't vote and send a majority of their money back to the subcontinent. These belong to the people of Jersey City. But we are doing every possible thing to keep it that way. Yet the smell of mendacity permeates the air so strong it burns the spirit to cinders. Yet now they dig in all the court yards to undermine the integrity and strength of the building so it will be unsafe. Yet the city lets them, and we stand with our mouths agape knowing exactly whats next. When asked why. The explainations are gurgles of mistruths with backs turned away. I ask you this. If I was to buy both homes on each side of your property and raze them. Put a chainlink fence with broken down cars and pitbulls on chains. How would you deal with this? Because this is what where going through. Patience has turned to restraint. time is running out. When we are gone, please have the proper fare to New York City. Dear Mr. Cotter, Director of City Planning............ PARIS IS BURNING!

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kurt von ellers' letter