By DEVON SHERIDAN
COLUMNIST
Before I begin, allow me to air my bias on the controversy of the shutdown of the Ballroom on 187th street on Friday night. Other than writing for the Ram, I am a musician and have already played multiple shows at the ballroom since it opened earlier this semester. I am not quite sure what that statement is worth in terms of compromising the integrity of this piece. I do not think it is worth much, but I do believe it is worth saying.
If you have not heard, there is a wonderful little ballroom located on the corner of 187th Street and Arthur Ave. A true analogy to the Bronx, the venue has seen better days. Light green paint peels off the interior walls and the hard wood floor is scraped, beaten and faded. A small, carpeted stage looks out onto the large room and four beautiful mini-chandeliers adorn the ornate ceiling. Three hundred people comfortably fit inside. Like I said: It is a wonderful venue, the first of its kind in the area.
Discovered early last semester by a handful of students, the ballroom hosted about half a dozen small shows in its inaugural two month stint. Word of mouth, popularity and support for the venue intensified, especially over the last month, which is not surprising. Fordham is starving for an off-campus arts venue, a place for music and other creative performance to thrive free from the shadow of university guise; this is something that myriad other colleges boast. It is something that reflexively helps a university or college. At Fordham, this amenity is embarrassingly absent.
On the weekend of Feb. 28, two shows were scheduled. The Friday show featured a mix of bands from Fordham and a hip-hop group of student-aged kids from the Bronx. Put simply, it was a gig for some musicians. A $5 cover charge at the door would go into maintaining and improving the ballroom. The Saturday show was supposed to be an open-mic night for a few GO! trips. A $5-$10 cover charge at the door would be donated to the service projects. On Facebook, over 150 people RSVP’ed to both shows.
At around 7 p.m. on Friday night, organizers informed all participants that all shows at the ballroom were henceforth cancelled.
Here’s where it gets hazy. These are facts as reported by Fordham Daily, a student blog. 1.) Frank Franz, owner of the ballroom, lacked an assembly certificate of operation, making it illegal to host an organization of more than 75 people. This fact was unearthed by administrators after they called and questioned him about the venue. 2.)A source told the blog, “We obviously can’t allow our students to run programs in any spaces the city has not inspected or permitted.”
Now, there are rumors that Fordham and Franz have clashed in the past. I also know that he is adamant about making the ballroom completely independent from Fordham. No student has any issue with that, and Fordham should not either. But, rumors do not help solve the problem. If the school does, for some reason, have an issue with Franz, I would beg that they get over themselves. He is incredibly interested and invested in finding an avenue where students can feel proud and comfortable in the Bronx, something the school perennially fails to do.
The aformentioned quote is troubling because the issue is not all that “obvious,” as the anonymous source puts it. It is actually a very complex issue. The show on Friday had nothing to do with Fordham University other than the fact that some of its students would have been there. To poke their nose around is similar to calling Governors Ball to make sure that there would not be any pot smoked there.
The show on Saturday night, being a GO! fundraiser, did, however, involve the school.
There is a question of blurred authority here, though, and a blurrier sense of motive. The school has an obligation to provide information, not remain silent.
I could argue that what the school should have done was turn a blind eye towards the activities at the ballroom. But that would be a little too naïve. Instead, the school cost a GO! fundraiser money when it forced them to downgrade their venue from a much larger venue to the smaller Rodrigues café (it cannot hold 150 students). It forced student musicians and artists to bemoan the fact that they live in an environment famished for artistic outlets.
Finally, it forced me to again ask the question: Is the role Fordham wants to play in the surrounding neighborhood, where so many of its students reside, that of ignorance or, worse, downright victimization?
James • Mar 8, 2014 at 9:24 pm
If this is a reference to the jamnesty event that was cancelled for Sunday night, may I say the commentators and the article author are uninformed of the full details. Organizers were informed Monday Jamnesty would not be occurring. So while I agree their needs to be more performance spaces on campus, I disagree entirely with the premise of this article, which is uninformed and includes inaccurate information. I will be writing a letter to the editor to correct the numerous mistakes found within.
arts advocate • Mar 7, 2014 at 12:11 pm
I think you’ve hit on something really important, which is that there aren’t enough venues for Rose Hill’s highly underestimated arts scene. Fordham Experimental Theatre, for instance, pulls off great shows despite having to work with a closet of a Blackbox theater: it’s a great space that’s full of history, but it is TINY. And it really does limit the type of shows that can happen.
The only real performance venues on campus are either not true performance spaces (i.e. the Blackbox) or ancient (i.e. Collins Auditorium). Fordham should recognize that Rose Hill is even more prolific in student-run theater than LC, and provide better facilities for those productions or, in the case of Collins, a bit of money for renovation. There are a passionate performers here who have a lot to offer–the FET show that won awards at the NY International Fringe Festival this past summer is a great example. The arts can look really good for the school. Yet we can barely have three theater groups on one campus because of the lack of artistic outlets, and I haven’t even mentioned the many a cappella groups, dance groups, and bands that live here. It’s a damn shame.
aerker • Mar 6, 2014 at 9:15 pm
One thing that could help Fordham change its bullshit and stay honest with its actions is getting that anonymous source of yours to come forward (or at least let you name them). I called Fordham Security that night to confirm the show’s cancellation and get an idea of where the pressure was coming from. It was about 6 or 7PM on Friday. Both the woman I spoke with and her supervisor said that they had not received any instruction to shut down the event. In fact, I was the first person they had heard anything about it from…at 6PM the night of the event. If it’s Fordham’s fault and Frank has nothing to do with what happened that night, it goes higher than security and it’s real shady.
Alex Erker • Mar 6, 2014 at 9:14 pm
One thing that could help Fordham change its bullshit and stay honest with its actions is getting that anonymous source of yours to come forward (or at least let you name them). I called Fordham Security that night to confirm the show’s cancellation and get an idea of where the pressure was coming from. It was about 6 or 7PM on Friday. Both the woman I spoke with and her supervisor said that they had not received any instruction to shut down the event. In fact, I was the first person they had heard anything about it from…at 6PM the night of the event. If it’s Fordham’s fault and Frank has nothing to do with what happened that night, it goes higher than security and it’s real shady.