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LES Troll Museum In Danger Of Closing
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jul 23, 2014
Modified Jul 23, 2014
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jul 23, 2014
Modified Jul 23, 2014
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Created by Reverend Jen back in September of 2000, the Lower East Side Troll Museum has had a good 14 year run... but it could all be coming to an end. The founder has started a crowdfunding effort to help save the trolls, the museum... and also her own rent-controlled apartment. This is all under the same roof.
Rev. Jen says a "series of setbacks occurred in early spring... and sent the Troll Museum on a road to ruin. Encroaching gentrification and a rent raise have now left the Museum on the brink of eviction, given Rev. already owes 3 months back rent. (Because the Troll Museum is rent stabilized, it is easier to evict Rev. than make necessary repairs, which they would have to do anyway if they got her out and moved in a wealthy bro who would pay double.) This is becoming an all too common practice on the Lower East Side where the sense of imaginative avant-garde lunacy is disappearing thanks to greed."
This museum doesn't feature just any ol' troll, but specifically those crazy-haired dolls from the late 1950s (they were huge in the '80s). A visit there will not only have you surrounded by them, but you'll be educated on "their history, their future and the rise and fall of the troll doll market."
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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