After a series of high-profile shootouts, bomb threats, and other violent incidents inside and outside its studio doors, Hot 97’s landlord may finally be ready to kick the station to the curb.
The last straw was the shooting of rapper Jamal “Gravy” Woolard on April 26. That marked the third shooting outside the Manhattan studios in the past five years, including an incident last year in which a member of 50 Cent’s entourage was shot in the leg.
On Tuesday (May 2), the District Council of Carpenters Pension Fund filed papers to have the station evicted, citing a “dangerous track record,” according to NY1. They added that they feared for the other tenants of the Hudson Street building that houses the station’s studios. Hot 97 has six years left on its lease.
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Hot 97’s owner, Emmis Communications, insists it has been trying to come up with a security plan with the landlord and the NYPD, but that the landlord refused.
“At least two Emmis employees asked the building’s security firm to remove loiterers outside the building more than an hour before the shooting last week,” read a statement from Emmis Communications. “They did nothing. If they had simply called the police at that point, this frightening situation may have been averted.”
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