I’ve written about genius pianist Donald Shirley before. He’s lived above Carnegie Hall for many years now and is over the age of 80. They are about to evict him along with other 41 other artists, most of home are elderly and have lived there for dozens of years.
I’m all for capitalism, but I’m not for changing the rules whenever a corporation feels like it. These studio apartments were set aside for artist housing in 1960, and need to stay that way as part of our cultural heritage, and, well just for the sake of not kicking elderly geniuses out of their apartments.
For more than 100 years, a unique collection of musicians, painters, sculptors, actors, drama coaches, photographers, architects, educators and related professionals have occupied the studios above Carnegie Hall as part of Andrew Carnegie’s mandate to house a comprehensive creative community.
Icons of American art and culture have lived, worked and studied in the Artist Studios: Marlon Brando, Leonard Bernstein, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Isadora Duncan, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine and Martha Graham are only a few of the legends that have called the Artists Studios an artistic haven or home. John Leguizamo, John Turturro, Mira Sorvino, David Duchovny and Richard Schiff.
If you want to get involved you may sign the petition here: