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Jay-Z's Free Show Canceled After Seaport Riot
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 18, 2010
Modified Jun 18, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 18, 2010
Modified Jun 18, 2010
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Like Phish and Paul McCartney have in the past, Jay-Z was scheduled to perform on top of the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater during Monday night's rush hour, but the performance (part of the rapper's Letterman appearance) was canceled at the last minute. A source told the NY Post it was an abrupt cancellation that came after weeks of planning, and word is "Bloomberg canceled the concert for security reasons after Drake's free concert" at the South Street Seaport earlier this week.
Police commissioner Ray Kelly laid the blame for Tuesday's show on the organizers at Paper magazine, who booked rapper Drake and wholesome comeback kids Hanson to play the free event at the Seaport—it ended before it began, and led to 2 arrests and 6 injuries. Allegedly the free, outdoor Jay-Z performance was only to be granted a permit if word of the show wasn't leaked beforehand, but a spokesman for the Mayor's film office says, "this event was made public" yesterday.
The organizers for the Jay-Z performance were prepared, however, and had already laid down $100K to cover security and overtime for the NYPD; a source told the paper they paid a "significantly higher" than when McCartney played the same spot last year.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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