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East Village Radio Is Shutting Down This Month
By
Jen Carlson
Published May 14, 2014
Modified May 14, 2014
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By
Jen Carlson
Published May 14, 2014
Modified May 14, 2014
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East Village Radio is signing off forever on May 23rd. Which sucks.
The station, run out of small storefront at the nexus of the universe, has been around since 2003. That year, owner Frank Prisinzano told the NY Times, ''The East Village has been extremely supportive of us. We wanted to return the favor to the neighborhood.''
Radio hosts heard the news at a meeting last night, and one of them, Stephen Dima, told us this morning:
"Needless to say I'm deeply saddened. East Village Radio has been a huge part of my life for the past 9 years, but I do respect the decision to go out on a high note. Frank Prisinzano started EVR as a way to give a voice to the vibrant arts and music community that thrives in the East Village, as a born and bread New Yorker, I felt an immediate kinship with that. East Village Radio is definitely one of those rare and beautiful things you wish could go on forever. It will be missed."
EV Grieve reports that "the station is releasing all of the archived shows to each DJ so that he or she can shop around for a new gig or syndication." Prisinzano told the site that, oddly, it was growth that was hurting them: "Every time we get a new listener, it costs us more money with licensing fees and Internet costs. After doing some projections, we see that it is going to be very, very difficult for us to continue to break even." And they were getting new listeners—they "counted more than 1 million listeners worldwide a month." Prisinzano, the chef who owns neighborhood restaurants Frank, Lil Frankies, Supper and Sauce, was mostly funding the commercial-free station.
Listen while you can. You will be missed, EVR!
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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