Pacifica Foundation’s 99.5 WBAI New York is once again on the verge of being evicted from a tower site in Manhattan.
The station has launched an “Emergency Tower Fund” seeking to raise $200,000 to fend off being forced off the air. In a press release, WBAI General Manager Berthold Reimers writes, “WBAI is facing an existential threat. This is not hyperbole. WBAI owes $150,000.00 to 4 Times Square which houses our transmitter, which enables us to transmit our signal to reach a 90-mile radius. But WBAI could be shut down at any moment and that would be the end of WBAI.”
WBAI relocated to the antenna atop 4 Times Square in 2018 after a multi-year legal battle with the Empire State Building over $1,819,687.52 in unpaid rent that eventually led to the Foundation receiving a $2 million bridge load from supporters of 90.7 KPFK Los Angeles to avoid the building’s ownership from claiming WBAI’s license in an asset seizure.
As of this writing, WBAI has received just over $26,000 in donations towards the $200,000 goal.