Police on Dean and Vand [George Martin murder]

alafairnadia wrote: I feel really bad for Alain and Nixon and everyone else. they had a really fantastic bar with a lot to offer the neighborhood. I certainly enjoyed every one of my visits there. it really sucks that the Daily News got the story so wrong, and that the bar's lunatic landlord decided to kill someone over property that wasn't his.

Alafair - didn't Nixon say that they did the renovations themselves (mind you this used to be an auto supply store I think).

what a bizarre statement:

Jack Krohn wrote:
"He was supposed to be evicted today," the landlord's wife said. "This is what happens when you have bad tenants."

really? this is what happens when you have bad tenants? are we suddenly living in the wild west where all landlord-tenant disputes are settled by gunfire?[/b]

Emily wrote: Agreed, ana.log.

This is so awful. Since I can't do anything about it, I wrote a letter to the Daily News about how stupid their coverage was. Here are some addresses I tracked down. No bounces yet.

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

I really have to wonder what you were thinking when you wrote an article so openly sympathetic to a man who had just shot someone. Whether someone is "God-fearing" or not seems wholly irrelevant once he has attempted to settle a nonviolent dispute with a gun.

I also have to ask why you made no attempt to talk to the bar owners, when you were so ready to take the words of Calixte's wife and friends at face value. If you had, you'd have learned what everyone in the neighborhood seems to know--that Calixte was trying to break the terms of their lease illegally and that the bar was doing poorly and could not make rent because it was always closed during the legal dispute.

I can't say that I have a particularly high opinion of the News in general, but this was exceptionally shoddy work.

Kudos to you. =D>

Reply from one of the reporters (posted w/ her permission):

Dear Ms. M-----,
I didn't write an article sympathetic to the gunman. My editor did.
I talked to people in the neighborhood who had knowledge of the business
dispute. I talked with neighbors who described Calixte as "a nut."
Some of both elements were featured in the story. Unfortunately, most
of both points of view were edited out. Space is a tyrant in the
newspaper business.
Next time, we'll try to do better.
Best, kerry b.

She confirmed that one of the addresses I hit was her editor, so point made.

Ditto. Now if every newspaper editor had to deal with a reader like Emily, boy, would they think twice, or three times.

Emily wrote: Reply from one of the reporters (posted w/ her permission):

Dear Ms. M-----,
I didn't write an article sympathetic to the gunman. My editor did.
I talked to people in the neighborhood who had knowledge of the business
dispute. I talked with neighbors who described Calixte as "a nut."
Some of both elements were featured in the story. Unfortunately, most
of both points of view were edited out. Space is a tyrant in the
newspaper business.
Next time, we'll try to do better.
Best, kerry b.

She confirmed that one of the addresses I hit was her editor, so point made.

that's great, good point-making

Oops! Apologies if he's reading. In the end, it seems like they did good reporting and the story got hacked to death. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but at a certain point, if you have too little space to tell the story well, you probably shouldn't try.

Anyone seen the Indigo Blue guys around?

The Franklin and Dean location has yet to have it's liquor license approved. I have a feeling it won't be too soon.

More gun laws will only hurt law abiding people.

Seems like the law abiding people in this story would have done much better if there had been stricter gun laws...

From the Post:

FEUDING LANDLORD A 'KILLER'

By PERRY CHIARAMONTE and ERIN CALABRESE

November 9, 2006 -- A Brooklyn landlord, embroiled in a dispute with a nightclub trying to operate in his building, shot and killed a man in the club yesterday, police said.

Clement Calixte, 67, had been fighting with the owners of the Indigo Blu Lounge, which occupies the ground floor of his building on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights, and had gone to court to toss the club, cops said.

The 41-year-old victim, whose name was withheld, was helping the club owners move out.

Calixte allegedly argued with the victim and shot him in the back.

It wasn't immediately known what sparked the deadly disagreement or if Calixte knew the victim wasn't employed by the club.

He was arrested at his apartment, where his wife said she was "confused" about what happened.

"Forty-one years together and he doesn't have a problem. I don't know what to tell you," she said.

link to article

DenverNougat wrote:

More gun laws will only hurt law abiding people.

Seems like the law abiding people in this story would have done much better if there had been stricter gun laws...

Nah. You might as well say the law abiding people in this story would have done much better if they had been permitted to carry firearms to defend themselves - if they were so inclined. I don't know how familiar you are with NYC permit laws, but lets just say that it's very, very difficult to legally keep a handgun in New York - no criminal record, not a nut, it doesn't matter. Unfortunately, it's pretty simple to dispense with all that jazz and just get a piece of the street.

I would guess that the shooter in this story found the process somewhat easier due to his auxilary status, but I can't prove that.

ParadeRest wrote: The Franklin and Dean location has yet to have it's liquor license approved. I have a feeling it won't be too soon.

that really sucks.

god thats depressing

what did the guy look like who was killed?

Emily wrote: Not that this story needs to get any WORSE, but I just came back from having lunch at the Usual.

Turns out the victim was a long time employee of theirs who had asked permission to go over to Indigo for the day to make a few extra bucks.

They've got a jar out for donations. Mike said they were going to buy him his suit to be buried in.

P.S. Even if you work in Manhattan, they're now open for dinner, so you should be able to stop by.

The back story on the landlord tenant relationship deserves some elaboration. As I understand it, Alan and Nixon did significant work developing the former auto shop as a bar, including soundproofing the entire place. Before development was complete, they left the space for a period of time and in their absence, the landlord, who had concerns that the four load bearing walls wouldn't hold up the building, breached the soundproofing, lengthwise, and installed steel columns and a steel beam to support the buildign. As a result, the highly engineered soundproofing was useless. Moreover, the steel beams apparently would conduct sound up through the brownstone amplifying even the least bit of noise.

I was in there once for a quiet drink, with only a few other customers, there was low-key background music on, which allowed polite conversation, and the cops showed up to notify us of a noise complaint from upstairs. They walked away shaking their heads.

Another time, around 8 pm or so, in similar circumstances, the landlord actually came into the bar, threw his cowboy hat ('fraid so) onto the bar and demanded that the music be turned off.

Draw your own conclusions, but if Calixite gets out of jail, I'd avoid him at all costs.