XN: Red October

Published on: October 15th, 2020 | Last updated: October 13, 2020 | Written by: Bad Guy Joe

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What’s The Goss?!
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal in the 5ptz lawsuit. Assuming the Wolkoff clan pays up, the 45 artists who filed suit will receive $150k each. After tax it’ll probably be like 80k, maybe, but that’s not bad scratch for the shit they went through to get it.

Also let’s take a minute and celebrate just how far graffiti as an art has come. We’ve gone from subway menaces to, at least in this one case, protected art. No court in 1980 would have even heard this case. VS would have showed up and thrown everyone into bookings for a week, and with that luck Desus wouldn’t even pass through.

Speaking of Graff Goss: A very awesome looking abandoned bus station in St. Louis just got decorated with some awesome art. St. Louis is an underrated hive of graffiti art in the US.

Speaking of Winning, check out this story on gardeners who have taken over some vacant land in Queensbridge Houses. This is the kind of energy we need. Be like Suga Ray. Be more like Lauren Ashcraft. Take charge, get involved, and when you’re doing something positive for the community, persist. Lord knows the people in charge usually don’t care.

Also maybe winning are these two UK Youtube explorers who got busted apparently climbing a bridge in broad daylight? Damn y’all are really going for that GOAT status eh? CLIMBED BRIDGE TOTES CAUGHT! MOM PISSED!

ASS: Assorted Subway Shenanigans
Have you seen this tiny crafty Metrocard? If you haven’t, you’ll love to see it.

Jim Dwyer, infamous Daily News columnist who covered the subways, passed away last week.

That New Tunnel Smell
Chester (UK) is building a new drainage tunnel that has altered the traffic flow around town.

China is threatening to fuck up India’s new Atal tunnel. Meanwhile, PM Modi doesn’t seem to give a fuck, and was filmed waving like a clown as he rode through the tunnel, which soon inspired citizens to also wild out and cause three accidents in three days as they sped through snapping selfies.

Dark Day Review
So we’re switching gears from just ACABing to this… reaction to all kinds of madness in the world.

Have y’all heard about AIR? No, not the infamous Queens writer who smashed the 7 train back in 1990. I’m talking the AIR Microclimate Hood. With the world on fire, maybe it is only a matter of time before everyone is forced to wear helmets like this, or to strap on an oxygen tank to go outside? You’ll be able to pay Jeff Bezos $500 per month for your oxygen subscription. Bob Dobbs would not be shocked, because he’s just a bunch of dots anyway. (Bob and the Oxygen wars is still one of the best sci fi stories I’ve ever read).

Hasidim in Brooklyn rioted last week in response to Governor Cuomo wanting to impose new restrictions in their neighborhood due to a large uptick in Covid cases. They then went on to beat up a journalist and formed a lynch mob to go harass him outside of his home.

Can you imagine what would have happened in a crowd of black people surrounded a fire truck, beat up someone they called a snitch, and blocked traffic? Of course you can. Is the NYPD afraid of their sociopath community terrorist ‘leader’? It sure looks that way.

NYC is a great city. It’s wonderful that anyone can practice any religion that they want here. I have a deep fondness for all things jewish culture. I’ve actually photographed hasidic weddings and it’s a wild time. That said, some of these guys really need to stop believing any little thing the government does is an attack on them. Wear masks. Socially distance. Stay home if you’ve been exposed. Stop listening to a lying sociopath (Trump).

Honestly if you can’t play nice with the rest of us NYC residents, just get the fuck out of here. I’d say the same thing about literally any group or person in NYC who doesn’t want to play by the pandemic rules: get the fuck out of city. We don’t need and definitely do not want your super spreader, disrespectful bullshit up in this house.

90 Sands Not So Bando Bando.
Last week I got in on a super cool, very under the radar (counted 8 participants!) tour of 90 Sands Street in Brooklyn. The views were absolutely amazing. This former Jehovah’s witness dorm building is currently vacant, and about to undergo a major renovation that will turn it into transitional and low income housing. You can read all the great details on the project on untapped cities.

I always think of Untapped as a more legit/legal version of many urban exploring sites (including my own), though they get access to spaces around NYC that you just plain won’t find anywhere else. And the ‘tours’ are small groups, you won’t feel like you’re being herded around (much). Some spot, like this one, would be next to impossible to see illegally. So yeah, I recommend getting a membership with them.

Shorty’s Short Shorts
GUAM (!) is going to crack down on bandos. GUAM!!! I once sold a looted computer to a priest in Guam. Looters: Doing Gods Work!

You hate to see it: Seattle has completed filling in their old SR-99 tunnel.

This article is a great primer on NYC construction near-disasters that you may not be aware of.

You hate to see it: Those Salt Lake City NIMBYs are one step closer to destroying their garbage ‘bandos.

Neighbors of a huge bando in Buffalo are also very itchy about trying to get the former King Sewing Machine factory demolished.

Also Lame: a collection of old controls from the now filled in Battery Street Tunnel was never re-homed.

Not bad: an old fire station is being converted into a pre-school. Those kids are gunna have some fun in there.

A former gold mine tourist attraction recently used some high tech methods to map the unused parts of the their mine, and well, it’s only a matter of time before someone uses this tech to map out say, the Paris catacombs (assuming this hasn’t already happened?).

And lastly, here’s some inspo for anyone thinking of buying a cheap bando to live in.

Bando BBQ
Last week we had zero ‘bando fires to report. You KNEW this week would make up for it, right?

Bando fires broke out in every corner of the country. A weird looking apartment building/maybe repurposed structure burned in Alaska, while commercial structures burned in Jackson (MS) and Racine (WI).

A crazy dude in Nashville is wanted for setting a bando on fire while people were partying inside. Talk about a psycho…

International Update
The cost of filling in an abandoned tunnel in the UK keeps climbing and honestly why bother? Learn something from us messy bitch Americans: Leave it to rot! We’ve got hundreds of abandoned rail and road tunnels all over this country. It’s totally fine. No one will care.

No matter where in the world you are, converting a bando back to living spaces can and will ruffle a lot of feathers. Here’s an example from Malaysia.

And that’s a Wrap:
How Y’all Feeling? This newsletter got too many words? Not Enough? Yo what’s with this off topic stuff y’all like or hate it? Drop me an email, or wait on Thursday’s web version to post an anonymous comment. Constructive feedback is the shit.

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