16 Facts About WBAI

1.

WBAI was purchased by philanthropist Louis Schweitzer, who donated it to the Pacifica Foundation in 1960.

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2.

WBAI played a major role in the evolution and development of the counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s.

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3.

WBAI's produced specials featuring William Carlos Williams, V R Lang, Jack Spicer, Louise Bogan, Paul Metcalf, Jonathan Williams, Harry Mathews, and James Laughlin.

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4.

In 1977, there was a major internal crisis at WBAI which resulted in the loss of the physical space of the station.

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5.

WBAI was located in a former church on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

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6.

For many years, WBAI had believed it was exempt from New York City real estate taxes as an "educational" institution, but in March 1977 the City Tax Commission denied that status and WBAI eventually sold the church to pay the back taxes.

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7.

WBAI signed a new lease for the 19th floor plus one office on another floor of an office building at 505 8th Avenue on the West Side of Manhattan.

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8.

WBAI initiated many program changes; still more long-time programmers left the station.

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9.

Shortly before the death of Samori Marksman and following years of complaints about the outdated and filthy studios at 505 Eighth Avenue in New York, WBAI moved to new studios at 120 Wall Street in the Financial District in Manhattan in June 1998.

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10.

Some senior WBAI staffers, including General Manager Van Isler, were fired immediately.

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11.

In late 2012, WBAI suffered extensive damage to its offices following the events of Hurricane Sandy.

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12.

The devastation by Sandy occurred in the midst of fundraising efforts, which ultimately prevented WBAI from acquiring the necessary funds to remain operational.

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13.

In June 2013, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting suspended payments to WBAI, citing accounting irregularities and a failure by the station to meet its financial obligations.

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14.

Summer Reese, the interim executive director of the Pacifica Foundation, which owns WBAI, said that after talks with SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents broadcasting talent, "we will be laying off virtually everyone whose voice you recognize on the air, " effective Monday.

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15.

In 2015, WBAI moved to new studios and offices at 388 Atlantic Avenue in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn.

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16.

WBAI began airing a national network feed known as "Pacifica Across America" - a curated collection of original content produced by Pacifica stations KPFA in Berkeley, California, KPFK in Los Angeles, KPFT in Houston and WPFW in Washington, D C, among other sources .

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