WBAI: Difference between revisions

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| city = [[New York City|New York, New York]]

| erp = 10,000 [[watt]]swatts

| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]

| webcast = [{{listen live|http://stream.wbai.org:8000/wbai_128 Listen live]}}

'''WBAI''' (99.5 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]) is a [[Non-commercial activity|non-commercial]], listener-supported [[radio station]] [[City of license|licensed]] to [[New York City|New York, New York]]. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a [[Left-wing politics|left-leaning]], [[Social liberalism|liberal]] or [[Progressivism|progressive]] viewpoint, and [[Freeform radio#Freeform radio vs. eclectic radio|eclectic music]]. The station is owned by the [[Pacifica Foundation]] with studios located in [[Brooklyn]] and transmitter located at [[4 Times Square]].

WBAI was purchased by [[philanthropist]] [[Louis Schweitzer (philanthropist)|Louis Schweitzer]], who donated it to the [[Pacifica Foundation]] in 1960.<ref>{{cite webmagazine |title=RADIORadio: WBAI in the Sky |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,939116,00.html |workmagazine=Time Magazine |date=January 25, 1960 |access-date=January 12, 2016}}</ref> The station, which had been a commercial enterprise, became non-commercial and listener-supported under Pacifica ownership.<ref name="SterlingO'Dell2010">{{cite book|author1=Christopher H. Sterling|author2=Cary O'Dell|title=The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmmLAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA551|date=April 12, 2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-17684-6|pages=551–}}</ref>

The history of WBAI during this period is iconoclastic and contentious.<ref>{{cite web|last=Collins|first=Glenn|title=The Station That Dared to Defend Carlin's "7 Words" Looks Back|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/nyregion/25wbai.html|publisherwork=The NYTimesNew York Times|date=June 25, 2008|access-date=September 14, 2018}}</ref> Referred to in a ''[[New York Times Magazine]]'' piece as "an anarchist's circus," one station manager was jailed in protest. The staff, in protest at sweeping proposed changes of another station manager, seized the studio facilities, then located in a [[deconsecration|deconsecrated church]], as well as the transmitter, located at the [[Empire State Building]].<ref>{{cite webmagazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/12/04/voice-of-the-cabal |title=Voice of the Cabal |publishermagazine=Newyorker.comThe New Yorker |date=December 4, 2006 |access-date=May 17, 2015}}</ref> During the 1960s, the station hosted innumerablenumerous anti-establishment causes, including [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-Vietnam war activists]], feminists (and live coverage of purported [[Miss America protest#Origin of "bra-burning"|bra-burning demonstrations]]), kids lib, early [[The Firesign Theatre|Firesign Theater]] comedy, and complete-album music overnight. It refused to stop playing [[Janis Ian]]'s song about interracial relationships "[[Society's Child]]".{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} Extensive daily coverage of the Vietnam war included the ongoing body count and innumerable anti-war protests.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

WBAI played a major role in the evolution and development of the [[counterculture of the 1960s]] and early 1970s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Collins|first=Glenn|title=The Station That Dared to Defend Carlin's "7 Words" Looks Back|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/nyregion/25wbai.html|publisherwork=The NYTimesNew York Times|date=June 25, 2008|access-date=January 12, 2016}}</ref> [[Arlo Guthrie]]'s "[[Alice's Restaurant]]" was first broadcast on ''[[Radio Unnameable]]'', [[Bob Fass]]' [[freeform radio]] program on WBAI, a program which itself in many ways created, explored, and defined the possibilities of the form.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BngPFW_JL2IC&q=%22alice's+restaurant%22+wbai&pg=RA1-PA116 |title=Active Radio: Pacifica's Brash Experiment |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |page=116 |isbn=0-8166-3157-3 |year=1999 |access-date=February 23, 2012}}</ref> The station covered the 1968 seizure of the [[Columbia University]] campus live and uninterrupted.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} With its signal reaching nearly 70 miles beyond New York City, its reach and influence, both direct and indirect, were significant.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} Among the station's weekly commentators in the 1960s were author [[Ayn Rand]], British politician/playwright Sir [[Stephen King-Hall]], and author [[Dennis Wholey]].{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} The 1964 Political conventions were "covered" satirically on WBAI by [[Severn Darden]], [[Elaine May]], Burns and Schreiber, [[David Amram]], [[Julie Harris (actress)|Julie Harris]], [[Taylor Mead]], and members of ''[[The Second City]]'' improvisational group.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} The station, under Music Directors [[John Corigliano]], Ann McMillan and, later [[Eric Salzman]], aired an annual 23-hour nonstop presentation of [[Richard Wagner]]'s Ring Cycle, as recorded at the Bayreuth Festival the year before, and produced live studio performances of emerging artists in its studios.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} Interviews with prominent figures in literature and the arts, as well as original dramatic productions and radio adaptations were also regular program offerings.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

In 1973, the station broadcast comedian [[George Carlin]]'s iconic ''[[Seven dirty words|Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television]]'' [[monologue]] uncensored. WBAI's broadcast of ''Seven Words'' became a landmark moment in the history of [[Freedom of speech|free speech]]. In a 1978 milestone in the station's contentious and unruly history, WBAI lost a 5-to-4 [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] decision (''[[FCC v. Pacifica Foundation]]'') that to this day has defined the power of the government over broadcast material it calls indecent.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Station That Dared to Defend Carlin's '7 Words' Looks Back |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/nyregion/25wbai.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Glenn |last=Collins |date=June 25, 2008 |access-date=February 23, 2012}}</ref> [[Mickey Waldman]] and Joe Cuomo covered much of the legal proceedings during this time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 6, 2006 |title=From the Vault: George Carlin, Pacifica, and the F.C.C. |url=http://pacificaradioarchives.org/browse/recording.php?recid=294&catid=6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127201851/http://pacificaradioarchives.org/browse/recording.php?recid=294&catid=6 |archive-date=November 27, 2010 |access-date=May 23, 2024 |website=Pacifica Radio Archives}}</ref>

In 1974, WBAI program director Marnie Mueller asked [[Charles Ruas]] to become director of arts programming. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Search Our Collection {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/keyword-search?search_api_views_fulltext=charles+ruas |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine |url=https://archive.org/search?query=wbai+folio+1974 |access-date=May 24, 2024 |website=archive.org}}</ref> Thus the station, already at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement, the counterculture and anti-war protest, under Ruas also became a platform for New York's avant-garde in theater, music, performance, art, and poetry.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web |title=Search Our Collection {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/keyword-search?search_api_views_fulltext=WBAI |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref> When the downtown avant-garde operas ''[[A Letter for Queen Victoria]]'' and ''[[Einstein on the Beach]]'' by [[Philip Glass]] and [[Robert Wilson (director)|Robert Wilson]] opened at the Metropolitan Opera, the station was right there to tape excerpts in rehearsals for broadcast.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search Our Collection {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/keyword-search?search_api_views_fulltext=A+Letter+to+Queen+Victoria |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Einstein on the beach / by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson ; interview by Charles Ruas. {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/iz0059 |access-date=November 17, 2023 |website=pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref>

[[Charles Ruas|Ruas]] initiated The Reading Experiment,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search Our Collection {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/keyword-search?search_api_views_fulltext=reading+experiment |access-date=November 12, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine |url=https://archive.org/search?query=wbai+folio+1975 |access-date=May 24, 2024 |website=archive.org}}</ref> a year-long series on [[Marguerite Young]]'s epic novel ''[[Miss MacIntosh, My Darling]]''.<ref>"Bed Time Stories: Miss Marguerite Young, My Darling," The Village Voice, Vol XIX, N. 45, Thursday, November 7, 1974</ref> These readings were transformed into performances by [[Rob Wynne]], who scored them with a complex collage of sound effects, music, and opera. The participants included [[Anaïs Nin]], [[Marian Seldes]], [[Alice Playten]], [[H.M. Koutoukas]], [[Leo Lerman]], [[Michael Wager]], [[Novella Nelson]], [[Osceola Macarthy Adams]], [[Owen Dodson]], [[Wyatt Emory Cooper]], [[Michael Higgins (actor)|Michael Higgins]], [[Anne Fremantle]], [[Peggy Cass]], [[Ruth Ford (actress)|Ruth Ford]], [[Earle Hyman]] and Daisy AldenAldan.<ref>{{cite web |title=Marguerite Young: Miss MacIntosh, My Darling |url=http://clocktower.org/series/marguerite-young-miss-macintosh-my-darling |work=clocktower.org |access-date=May 15, 2019}}</ref>

When [[William Burroughs]] returned to the United States from Tangier, Ruas invited him to present a retrospective of all his works.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wave Farm {{!}} Historic Audio from the Archives of Charles Ruas: William S. Burroughs: The Making of Naked Lunch |url=https://wavefarm.org/wf/archive/qfhv40 |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=wavefarm.org}}</ref> The series consisted of four programs, beginning with ''Junkie'' and followed by ''The Yage Letters'', read by Burroughs and Allen Ginsburg, ''The Last Words of Dutch Schultz'', and, finally, ''Naked Lunch''. Bill Kortum oversaw this series as well as retrospectives of the works of [[Jerzy Kosinski]] and [[Donald Barthelme]], co-produced with Judith Sherman, the station's music director.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=WBAI Radio (New York |first=N. Y. ) |url=http://archive.org/details/wbaifoliomay76wbairich |title=WBAI folio |date=1976 |publisher=New York : WBAI |others=Pacifica Radio Archives}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine |url=https://archive.org/search?query=wbai+folio+1976 |access-date=May 24, 2024 |website=archive.org}}</ref>

A semester of [[Allen Ginsberg]]'s poetry seminar held at the [[Naropa University|Naropa Institute]] in Colorado was presented by Ruas, and for many years the station covered the annual New Year's Eve celebratory poetry marathon at St. Mark's Church.<ref>{{Cite web |title=St. Mark's Poetry Project: 1976 New Year's day (Parts 1 and 2 only) {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/iz1364 |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |title=Clocktower - Radio |url=https://clocktower.org/series/historic-audio-from-the-archives-of-charles-ruas |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=clocktower.org}}</ref> The day the Vietnam War ended, poet [[Muriel Rukeyser]] came to the station to read her poem on peace.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The reading experiment: performing poets in support of WBAI (Episode 33 of 33, Part 1 of 2) {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc070933a |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine |url=https://archive.org/search?query=wbai+folio+1977 |access-date=May 24, 2024 |website=archive.org}}</ref>

[[Charles Ruas|Ruas]] invited poet [[Susan Howe]] and CCNY Literature professor Paul Oppenheimer<ref>{{Cite web |last=York |first=The City College of New |date=August 1, 2015 |title=Paul Oppenheimer |url=https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/profiles/paul-oppenheimer |access-date=October 28, 2023 |website=The City College of New York |language=en-us}}</ref> to produce a weekly poetry program. Howe produced a weekly poetry program presenting the works of [[John Ashbery]], [[W. S. Merwin|W.S. Merwin]], [[Maureen Owen]], [[Charles Reznikoff]], Rebecca Wright, [[Ron Padgett]], [[Carter Ratcliff]], [[John Hollander]], [[Anne Waldman]], [[Helen Adam]], [[Audre Lorde]], Michael Brownstein, Mary Ferrari, and [[Muriel Rukeyser]]. She also produced specials featuring [[William Carlos Williams]], V. R. Lang, Jack Spicer, Louise Bogan, Paul Metcalf, Jonathan Williams, Harry Mathews, and James Laughlin.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Howe-Pacifica.php|title=PennSound: Susan Howe - Pacifica|website=writing.upenn.edu}}</ref>

From 1976 to 1979, poet [[John Giorno]] hosted ''The Poetry Experiment''<ref name="Rubery2011">{{cite book|author=Matthew Rubery|title=Audiobooks, Literature, and Sound Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zearAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA84|date=May 9, 2011|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-73333-8|pages=84–}}</ref> and presented, with [[Charles Ruas]], his eight-part series ''[[Dial-A-Poem]] Poets''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc268602-07|title=Dial-a-poem. &#124; Pacifica Radio Archives|website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org}}</ref>

During those years, WBAI became a cultural force as these programs were disseminated nationally through the Pacifica Network.<ref name="auto2"/><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lavey |first=Nate |date=August 26, 2013 |title=A Weak Signal at WBAI |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-weak-signal-at-wbai |access-date=February 2, 2024 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

In 1977, there was a major internal crisis at WBAI which resulted in the loss of the physical space of the station. WBAI was located in a former church on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. For many years, WBAI had believed it was exempt from New York City real estate taxes as an "educational" institution, but in March 1977 the City Tax Commission denied that status<ref>{{cite news |title=WBAI‐FMWBAI-FM May Sell Its Studio |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/26/archives/wbaifm-may-sell-its-studio.html?_r=0 |work=The New York Times |date=November 26, 1977 |access-date=December 30, 2016}}</ref> and WBAI eventually sold the church (which it owned) to pay the back taxes. WBAI signed a new lease for the 19th floor (the former Caedmon Records office/studio) plus one office on another floor of an office building at 505 8th Avenue on the West Side of Manhattan.

After the events in 1977, the station began a shift to a more profound international direction. In 1980, Caribbean immigrant and Marxist activist [[Samori Marksman]] was hired as WBAI Program Director and with his ascension, there was more of a focus on international issues and the promotion of people of color to the WBAI staff which caused grumbling among long time white and Jewish progressives who felt they were being pushed out of the station. In 1983, Marksman abruptly left for the Caribbean island of Grenada to participate in a new government – a government that was thwarted by the [[United States invasion of Grenada|US invasion of Grenada]] in October 1983.

Shortly before the death of Samori Marksman and following years of complaints about the outdated and filthy studios at 505 Eighth Avenue in New York, WBAI moved to new studios at 120 Wall Street in the Financial District in Manhattan in June 1998. After the death of Marksman, there was profound uncertainty and an explosion of pent-up feelings and resentments that was suppressed by Marksman and Mario Murillo, the Public Affairs director. Utrice Leid, a popular Caribbean radio host and producer had expected to succeed Marksman but was denied the post by then-Generalgeneral Managermanager Valerie Van Isler. This led to an intense battle between various factions inside and outside the station and with The Pacifica Foundation, the non-profit parent company of WBAI. The culmination of this conflict was the "Christmas Coup" in December 2000 when a faction, led by Leid, padlocked the station and took control of the airwaves, starting an on-air and off-air war that lasted for several years. Some senior WBAI staffers, including Generalgeneral Managermanager Van Isler, were fired immediately. Van Isler, in particular, was blamed for the early death of Marksman. In 1994, Van Isler initially refused to hire Marksman, claiming Marksman had a mediocre credit report, then, later in his tenure, refused to give him a salary increase. The autocratic and unpopular Van Isler also vigorously fought former staffers from obtaining unemployment benefits, including Bill Wells, the former WBAI Chief Engineer, who had a disability.

In late 2012, WBAI suffered extensive damage to its offices following the events of [[Hurricane Sandy]].<ref name=sandymove>{{cite web|author1=Matthew Lasar|title=Volunteers needed to help WBAI in NYC move to City College station|url=http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2013/02/11/volunteers-needed-to-help-wbai-in-nyc-move-to-city-college-station/|publisher=Radio Survivor|access-date=February 12, 2015|date=February 11, 2013}}</ref> The Manhattan offices saw [[flood]]ingflooding reach the second floor, trapping seven staffers inside, and the telephone systems being disabled. The devastation by Sandy occurred in the midst of fundraising efforts, which ultimately prevented WBAI from acquiring the necessary funds to remain operational. As a result of funding and operational difficulties, WBAI announced in 2013 it would be moving out of those studios to temporary studios of [[WHCR-FM]] located in [[Harlem]], a station operated by [[City College of New York]] (CUNY).<ref>{{cite web|author1=Matthew Lasar|title=CPB on WBAI: the good news is that we are talking, but . . .|url=http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2013/07/11/cpb-on-wbai-the-good-news-is-that-we-are-talking-but/|publisher=Radio Survivor|access-date=February 12, 2015|date=July 11, 2013}}</ref><ref name=sandymove/>

Lynne Rosen and John Littig, co-hosts of the monthly show ''The Pursuit of Happiness'', were found dead on June 3, 2013, after committing suicide in their [[Park Slope]] home.<ref>{{cite web |title=Co-hosts of radio show 'The Pursuit of Happiness' committed suicide |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-couple-committed-suicide-co-hosted-radio-show-article-1.1363804 |publisherwork=NY Daily News|location=New York |access-date=June 5, 2013}}</ref>

On August 9, 2013, Pacifica management announced that due to financial problems, WBAI was laying off about two-thirds of its staff, effective August 12, 2013. The entire news department was laid off.<ref>{{cite news|author=Ben Sisario|title=WBAI-FM Lays Off Most of Staff|date=August 11, 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/business/media/wbai-fm-lays-off-most-of-staff.html|access-date=May 17, 2015}}</ref> Summer Reese, the interim executive director of the Pacifica Foundation, which owns WBAI, said that after talks with [[SAG-AFTRA]], the union that represents broadcasting talent, "we will be laying off virtually everyone whose voice you recognize on the air," effective Monday. She corrected that and announced the final number was 19 out of the station's 29 employees, about 66%. Andrew Phillips, the former general manager of another of Pacifica's five stations, [[KPFA]] in [[Berkeley, California]], was appointed WBAI's interim program director. ''The New York Times'' reported<ref>{{cite news|author=Ben Sisario|title=Democracy May Prove the Doom of WBAI|date=August 20, 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/business/media/democracy-may-prove-the-doom-of-wbai.html|access-date=May 17, 2015}}</ref> that the station owed $2 &nbsp;million in broadcast fees to ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' alone, while cash on hand was just $23,000.

On October 4, 2017, the court rejected WBAI's pleadings as ill-founded and granted the Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) a summary judgment, in the amount of $1.8m plus attorney's fees, for the monies due through the initial filing date of late 2016. ESRT was awarded with an additional $600k for the lease through the date of the court's ruling, with obligations of approximately $50k+ per month through lease expiration in 2020 also remaining in place.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rew-online.com/2017/10/empire-state-realty-pacifica-wbai-lawsuit/|title=Empire State Realty wins lawsuit against non-profit radio station Pacifica WBAI|first=Christian Brazil|last=Bautista|date=October 5, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://current.org/2017/10/judge-rules-against-pacifica-wbai-in-1-8m-lawsuit/|title=Judge rules against Pacifica, WBAI in $1.8M lawsuit|first1=Tyler|last1=Falk|website=Current|date=October 6, 2017}}</ref> A further settlement was announced on April 6, 2018, releasing WBAI from the court judgment and its obligation to continuing leasing the Empire State tower into 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/pacifica-settle-nyc-tower-dispute|title=Pacifica Settles NYC Tower Dispute|first1=Randy J.|last1=Stine|website=Radio World|date=April 6, 2018|access-date=May 5, 2020}}</ref> They began broadcasting from [[4 Times Square]] on May 31, 2018.<ref>{{cite Q|Q70229711}}</ref> A bailout loan from listeners of sister station KPFK eventually covered the remaining fees on the lease.<ref name=evictiondanger/>

On Monday, October 7, 2019, the Pacifica Foundation announced they were shutting down WBAI's local operations, leaving only two workers to keep the station's signal on the air. WBAI began airing a national network feed known as "Pacifica Across America" - a curated collection of original content produced by Pacifica stations [[KPFA]] in [[Berkeley, California]], [[KPFK]] in [[Los Angeles]], [[KPFT]] in [[Houston]] and [[WPFW]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], among other sources (the post-shutdown WBAI schedule included commercial progressive talker [[Thom Hartmann]] and Native American free-form series ''[[Koahnic Broadcast Corporation#Programming|Undercurrents]]'', which is mostly syndicated to public radio). John Vernile, interim executive director of the Pacifica Foundation, said the station's fund raising and audience had declined in recent years, to the point where the rest of the Pacifica network was subsidizing WBAI's operations on top of servicing its unsustainable debt load.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sisario|first=Ben|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/business/media/wbai-pacifica-layoffs.html|title=Layoffs and Canceled Shows at WBAI-FM, a New York Radio Original|work=The New York Times|date=October 7, 2019|access-date=October 8, 2019|quote=replaced its local programming with shows drawn from Pacifica’sPacifica's four other stations. ..."Listeners in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C., have been supporting the efforts in New York," Mr. Vernile said. "It has gotten to a point where we can no longer do that."}}</ref>

Within hours of the shutdown,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=ymdb3WDh1N6HHlPPGu3cWQ==&system=prod|title=FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/07/2019 02:36 PM}}</ref> WBAI's staffers filed a lawsuit in New York state court challenging the shutdown as illegal. A temporary injunction was granted the afternoon of October 8, 2019<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=JBq2UHhkhQwC/BMLD4eFSw==&system=prod|title=FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/08/2019 11:39 AM}}</ref> ordering WBAI to resume operations and not dismantle the studio until an October 18 hearing, but by the time the injunction had been issued the studio had already been dismantled, preventing the staff from resuming local operations. An appeals court lifted most of the injunction October 10, only enjoining Pacifica from outright firing WBAI's employees.<ref>[https://radioinsight.com/headlines/180972/wbai-staff-gets-temporary-restraining-order-to-return-to-station/ "WBAI Staff Gets Temporary Restraining Order To Return To Station"] from Radio Insight (October 7, 2019)</ref> On Tuesday, October 15, 2019, WBAI's attorney, Arthur Schwartz, stated that Federal Judge [[Paul A. Engelmayer]] reactivated the temporary restraining order (TRO), extending it to close of business on the 17th.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/jeffasimmons/docs/wbai_-_federal_tro|title=Judge reactivates TRO preventing rogue members of Pacifica Board from blocking WBAI content|websitevia=Issuu|date=October 15, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/10/15/wbai-supporters-vow-to-keep-fighting-for-local-programming/|title='We need WBAI': Station's supporters vow to keep fighting for local programming|date=October 15, 2019|website=Brooklyn Eagle}}</ref>

On October 15, District Judge Engelmayer (Southern District of New York) extended the New York State Supreme Court's TRO from October 18 through the end of the next hearing, which was scheduled for Monday, October 21. Prior to the hearing, the parties were to submit briefs in support or opposition of the extension of the TRO.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.2600.com/content/update-wbai-and-hook|title=Update On WBAI And 'Off The Hook' &#124; 2600|website=www.2600.com}}</ref>

In Manhattan Supreme Court, Judge Melissa Crane ordered Pacifica to return control of the station back to WBAI. She upheld the October 20, 2019, board vote to annul the decision to shutter WBAI. A lawyer for Pacifica, Kara Steger, said that the company planned to appeal the ruling. WBAI resumed local programming on November 7.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2019/11/06/nyc-based-radio-station-wbai-to-go-back-on-the-air-at-midnight|title=NYC-based radio station WBAI to go back on the air at midnight|website=www.nypost.comNew York Post|date=November 7, 2019}}</ref>

* [httphttps://wbai-nowthen.blogspot.com/ Station History & Current Affairs]

[[Category:Pacifica1941 Foundationestablishments stationsin New York City]]

[[Category:1941Pacifica establishmentsFoundation in New York Citystations]]