An Extraction in Three Ledgers
Russell Patrick Brown v 18 Gay Street LLC
2017–ongoing
A durational documentary timeline of one landmarked Greenwich Village block, its tenant, its city and its owners, kept over eight years by the last rent-stabilized tenant.
Historic tax map, Manhattan Block 593.
18 Gay Street is a durational documentary work: an eight-year record of one landmarked Greenwich Village block (14–18 Gay Street and 16–20 Christopher Street, Manhattan Block 593) kept by the last rent-stabilized tenant.
It runs in three parallel ledgers: what the tenant did and what was done to him; what the city's courts and agencies did and failed to do; and what the owners did, bought, borrowed, sold and let rot. The lawsuit is its spine, not its subject. Every entry cites its source.
The work is ongoing; it ends when the block does or the case does.
How to read it
- Left lane, the tenant: filings, photographs, testimony, losses.
- Centre lane, the city: every act and omission by courts and agencies.
- Right lane, the owners: purchases, mortgages, sales, work, and the condition of the property on their watch.
Scroll to move through time. Select any entry to open its sources.
See Also