by @CodyBrown
This was originally written for Jay Maisel’s facebook page. It was one of many responses on the page but while I was writing, the page was deleted and all the other responses are now gone.
Dear Jay Maisel,
I read a pretty disheartening post this morning about what seemed like a copyright troll who sued another artist for modifying his work. I googled and found out that it was you Jay—Jay Maisel—the ‘artist’ who lives in the Germania Bank Building.
I walk by this building frequently and like most others—it’s clear that it could easily be sold for tens of millions of dollars. I was sad to hear that this is what you’re doing in the twilight of your career. A friend of mine interviewed you and made a documentary about your work and life in the building a couple years ago—I remember being intrigued and impressed. You seemed to have an old school NYC ebullience and artistic integrity that I appreciated and aspired to. I would often mention your work and life in the building to friends when I would walk by your home—I loved the story. There was something inventive and soulful about it that seemed to capture a lot of what was great about working as an artist in NYC.
I no longer have an ability to tell that story. I’d now consider it a neighborhood improvement if the Germania Bank Building was demolished and replaced by Scarano Luxury Condos and a Shake Shack. Either that or new tenants who understand that this is not what artists do. You deleted your facebook page so it’s clear that these comments are having an effect on you and I hope you can, at the very least, address them publicly. You are disappointing so many people by doing this and you don’t need to. Make amends. Give back the money. This isn’t worth 32k.
-cody
A new york neighbor and admirer of your work.
