View source for WBAI

{{short description|Pacifica Radio station in New York City}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=August 2020}}
{{Original research|date=August 2020}}
{{Overly detailed|date=June 2021}}
}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WBAI
| image            = WBAI logo.svg
| city             = [[New York, New York]]
| country          = US
| area             = [[New York metropolitan area]]
| branding         = WBAI
| airdate          = {{start date and age|1960|1|8|p=y}}
| frequency        = {{Frequency|99.5|[[Hertz#SI multiples|MHz]]}}
| format           = {{ubl|[[Free-form radio|Free-form]]|[[Progressive talk radio|Progressive]]}}
| language         = {{ubl|[[American English|English]]|[[Spanish language in the United States|Spanish]]}}
| erp              = 10,000 watts
| haat             = {{convert|282.3|m|sp=us}}
| class            = B
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| facility_id      = 51249
| callsign_meaning = Broadcast Associates, Incorporated (former owner)
| former_callsigns =
| affiliations     = Pacifica Radio
| owner            = [[Pacifica Foundation]]
| licensee         =
| webcast          = {{listen live|http://stream.wbai.org:8000/wbai_128}}
| website          = {{URL|https://wbai.org/}}
}}
'''WBAI''' (99.5 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station [[City of license|licensed]] to [[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]].

==History==
===Origins===
The station began as WABF, which first went on the air in 1941 as W75NY, of Metropolitan Television, Inc. (W75NY indicating an eastern station at 47.5&nbsp;MHz in New York), and moved to the 99.5 frequency in 1947.<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/47-OCR/1947-10-27-BC-OCR-Page-0048.pdf WABF (FM)] ''[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting – Telecasting]]''. October 27, 1947. pg. 48.</ref> In 1955, after two years off the air, it was reborn as WBAI (after then-owners Broadcast Associates, Inc.).<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/55-OCR/1955-07-04-BC-OCR-Page-0081.pdf CALL LETTERS ASSIGNED] ''Broadcasting – Telecasting''. July 4, 1955. pg. 83.</ref>

===1960s===
WBAI was purchased by philanthropist [[Louis Schweitzer (philanthropist)|Louis Schweitzer]], who donated it to the [[Pacifica Foundation]] in 1960.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Radio: WBAI in the Sky |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,939116,00.html |magazine=Time |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|work=The New 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 magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/12/04/voice-of-the-cabal |title=Voice of the Cabal |magazine=The New Yorker |date=December 4, 2006 |access-date=May 17, 2015}}</ref>  During the 1960s, the station hosted numerous 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 [[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|work=The New 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]], [[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}}

===1970s===
In 1970, Kathy Dobkin, Milton Hoffman, and Francie Camper produced an unprecedented, critically acclaimed 4{{frac|1|2}} day round-the-clock reading of Tolstoy's ''[[War And Peace]]''.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}  The epic novel was read cover to cover by more than 200 people—including a large number of international celebrities from various fields.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} ''[[Newsweek]]'' called this broadcast "one of the more mind-blowing 'firsts' in the history of the media".  The complete reading (over 200 audio tapes) was the first Pacifica program to be selected for inclusion in the permanent collection of the Museum of Broadcasting in NYC.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}
[[File:Seven Dirty Words WBAI.jpg|thumbnail|right|A poster in a WBAI broadcast booth warns radio broadcasters against using the [[seven dirty words]].]]
In 1973, the station broadcast comedian [[George Carlin]]'s iconic ''[[Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television]]'' [[monologue]] uncensored. WBAI's broadcast of ''Seven Words'' became a landmark moment in the history of [[free speech]]. In a 1978 milestone in the station's contentious and unruly history, WBAI lost a 5-to-4 [[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]], [[Earle Hyman]] and Daisy Aldan.<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 Ginsberg, ''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 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]] inaugurated the Audio Experimental Theater, a series presenting the works of avant-garde artists: [[Meredith Monk]], [[Yvonne Rainer]], [[Ed Bowes]], [[Ed Friedman]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chinoiserie / by Ed Friedman. {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/iz0071 |access-date=November 17, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref> Michael Newman with Joan Schwartz and [[Switched-On Bach|Benjamin Folkman]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=A.K.A.L.Q. : also known as Lenny Quantum / by Michael Newman; scored by Benjamin Folkman; adapted for radio by Joan Schwartz. {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/iz0070 |access-date=November 17, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref> [[Vito Acconci]], [[Charles Ludlam|Charles Ludlum]], [[Jacques Levy]], [[Willoughby Sharp]], [[John Cage]], [[Robert Wilson (director)|Robert Wilson]], [[Philip Glass]], [[Richard Foreman]], and [[Joan Jonas]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Other Titles in this Series {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/keyword-search?search_api_views_fulltext=Audio+Experimental+Theatre |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

In drama, the station [[Switched-On Bach|defended]] [[Tennessee Williams]] against his critics during the last years of his life by covering his ''Memoirs'' and broadcasting a production of ''Two-Character Play''.<ref name="auto"/> Other dramatists whose works were featured included [[Jean-Claude van Itallie]], [[Richard Schechner|Richard Scheckner]], [[Andrei Serban]], and [[Elizabeth Swados]].<ref name="auto"/>

Ruas initiated interview programs featuring nonfiction writers discussing their fields of expertise—[[Buckminster Fuller]], [[Thor Heyerdahl]], [[Ed Sanders]], [[Jonathan Kozol]] and [[Nigel Nicholson]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Buckminster Fuller on synergetics. {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc2247 |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>

Each of the arts had weekly coverage. Courtney Callender's ''Getting Around'' covered the cultural scene.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Callender and Baraka talk / Imamu Baraka; interviewed by Courtney Callender. {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc2213 |access-date=December 5, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A Discussion of High Culture Vs. Popular Culture : the new book by Herbert Gans / moderated by Courtney Callender. {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc2162 |access-date=December 5, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Courtney Callender : long look / Owen Dodson. {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc2212 |access-date=December 5, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref> Moira Hodgson was the dance critic.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Private world of ballet / John Gruen; interviewed by Moira Hodgson. {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc2252 |access-date=December 5, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref> The visual arts critics were [[John Perreault]], [[Cindy Nemser]], [[Liza Béar|Liza Baer]], Joe Giordano, Judith Vivell,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search Our Collection {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/keyword-search?search_api_views_fulltext=+Judith+Vivell |access-date=December 5, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref> [[Kenneth Koch]], and [[Les Levine]].<ref name="auto"/>

[[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]], [[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>

On alternate weeks, Oppenheimer presented the works of Barbara Holland, Ivan Arguelles, Ann Darr, Richard Howard, Karen Swenson, James Emanuel, Siv Cedering Fox, Nelson Canton, Victoria Sullivan, Samuel Menashe, Carol Hebald, Paul Zweig, Gregor Roy and Mary Jane Menuez.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search Our Collection {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/keyword-search?search_api_views_fulltext=paul+oppenheimer |access-date=October 28, 2023 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref> He also produced specials on the aesthetics of 20th century poets and the history of the sonnet with contemporary American examples.

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=pacificaradioarchives.org}}</ref>

When Ira Weitzman became Director of the Saturday night Free Music Store program, he was as interested in performance as dedicated to music. He oversaw [[Meredith Monk]]'s performance of ''Quarry'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=WBAI Radio (New York |first=N. Y. ) |url=https://archive.org/details/wbaifoliomay76wbairich/page/n1/mode/2up |title=WBAI folio |date=1976 |publisher=New York : WBAI |others=Pacifica Radio Archives}}</ref> as well as producing Broadway actress [[Marian Seldes]] in ''Portrait of an Unknown Lady: Eleanor Wylie''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Portrait of an unknown lady: the life and work of Elinor Wylie / with readings by Marian Seldes. {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc2928?nns=ira+weitzman |access-date=September 13, 2024 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref> He produced ''Performing Poets in Support of WBAI''<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?nns=ira+weitzman |access-date=September 13, 2024 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The reading experiment: performing poets in support of WBAI (Episode 33 of 33, Part 2 of 2) {{!}} Pacifica Radio Archives |url=https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc070933b?nns=ira+weitzman |access-date=September 13, 2024 |website=www.pacificaradioarchives.org |language=en}}</ref> with the country's most notable poets. His best known production was an evening with the performing poets [[Ed Friedman]], [[Helen Adam]] and [[Patti Smith]], who performed her first concert.<ref>{{Cite book |last=WBAI Radio (New York |first=N. Y. ) |url=https://archive.org/details/wbaifolio76wbairich/page/10/mode/2up |title=WBAI folio |date=1976 |publisher=New York : WBAI |others=Pacifica Radio Archives}}</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-FM May Sell Its Studio |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/26/archives/wbaifm-may-sell-its-studio.html|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.

{{Disputed section|date=April 2022}}

===Turmoil and change===
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 [[US invasion of Grenada]] in October 1983.

In 1986, gay activist [[John Scagliotti]] became program director. He initiated many program changes; still more long-time programmers left the station. Scagliotti tried to professionalize the programming and smooth out the rougher edges of existing shows. During his tenure, several producers received accolades for their efforts, including Robert Knight, who won a Polk Award for his show "Contragate", and future program director and Station Manager Valerie Van Isler, who won awards for her role in the film, ''[[The Panama Deception]]''. Also, award-winning producer and host [[Amy Goodman]] began her career under Scagliotti. Samori Marksman returned to WBAI in the early 90s and in 1994, and was hired again as WBAI's Program Director. During his five-year tenure, WBAI achieved significant progress in listenership and fundraising. Marksman founded ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' in 1996, the award-winning program now helmed by Amy Goodman. Marksman was deeply-connected to the Caribbean and African diaspora. His own program, "Behind The News", focused on international and national issues from a black nationalist and Marxist perspective. Marksman was profoundly loved by a broad cross section of the WBAI audience and staff. His shocking and sudden death from a massive heart attack on March 23, 1999, was a wound to the station that lasted for years. Over 3,000 people attended his funeral at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan.
[[File:120 Wall Street door.jpg|alt=An ornate door|thumb|The outside door of 120&nbsp;Wall Street, where WBAI was formerly headquartered.]]
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-general manager 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 general manager 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.
[[Image:Wbai2.jpg|thumb|The former WBAI studios on the 10th floor of [[120 Wall Street]], Manhattan]]
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 flooding 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 |work=Daily News|location=New York |access-date=June 5, 2013}}</ref>

In June 2013, the [[Corporation for Public Broadcasting]] suspended payments to WBAI, citing accounting irregularities and a failure by the station to meet its financial obligations.<ref>
[http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/119567/cpb-holds-back-funds-from-pacific-as-wbai-is-late- CPB Holds Back Funds From Pacifica As WBAI Is Late On Payroll And Antenna Payments] All Access, June 20, 2013</ref> Layoff notices effective July 15 were subsequently issued to the station's staff and management.<ref>
[http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/83912/wbai-lays-off-entire-staff/ WBAI Lays Off Entire Staff] Lance Venta. Radio Insight, June 20, 2013</ref><ref>[http://radiosurvivor.com/2013/06/21/end-times-for-wbai-in-new-york-city/ End Times for WBAI in New York City?] Matthew Lasar, Radio Survivor, June 21, 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.

In March 2014, there were assorted rumors that the station would be sold or leased or moved, in whole or in part (including their equipment and antenna at the [[Empire State Building]]),<ref>"[http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/89144/wbai-to-be-evicted-from-empire-state-building/ WBAI To Be Evicted From Empire State Building]", Lance Venta, Radio Insight, 2014 June 24</ref> after contentions and firings both at WBAI and at Pacifica headquarters.<ref>"[http://radioinsight.com/community/topic/wbai-actually-being-sold/ WBAI Actually Being Sold?]", Radio Insight Forum, May 17, 2015</ref>

On December 17, 2014, the California State Attorney General opened a full and formal investigation into the Pacifica Radio Foundation, owner of WBAI, with respect to its alleged irregularities as to its finances, violations of California law with respect to nonprofit organizations, and violations of its own bylaws. In 2015, WBAI moved to new studios and offices at 388 Atlantic Avenue in the [[Boerum Hill]] section of Brooklyn.<ref name="FCC">{{Cite web|url=https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/fm-profile/wbai|title=WBAI - FM Station Profile|website=FCC Public Inspection Files}}</ref>

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'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|via=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=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=New York Post|date=November 7, 2019}}</ref>

In April 2024, WBAI announced it had again fallen into arrears on tower rental and that the owner of 4 Times Square was threatening to remove WBAI "at any time" unless the station paid the $150,000 in debt it owed to the building. WBAI, which stated that such a move would mean "the end of WBAI" (a statement the general manager insisted was "not hyperbole") immediately launched a [[pledge drive]] hoping to raise the funds.<ref name=evictiondanger>{{Cite web |last=Venta |first=Lance |date=April 10, 2024 |title=WBAI In Danger Of Being Evicted From Another New York Tower |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/267334/wbai-in-danger-of-being-evicted-from-another-new-york-tower/ |access-date=April 10, 2024 |website=Radio Insight |language=en-US}}</ref> Later that month, Pacifica agreed to a consent decree with the FCC over its pledge drive content containing unlawful calls to action, accepting a $25,000 fine and having its license renewal shortened to two years instead of the usual eight; the complaint had been filed by Pacifica Safety Net, a pressure group formed in hopes of rectifying Pacifica's overall financial situation, up to and including selling the WBAI license.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 24, 2024 |title=Fine, Short-Term License Are Prices Pacifica Station Pays For Ad Rule Violations. |url=https://www.insideradio.com/free/fine-short-term-license-are-prices-pacifica-station-pays-for-ad-rule-violations/article_8da4aae6-025d-11ef-b451-c3fa3abe5ba0.html |access-date=May 1, 2024 |website=Insideradio.com |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* {{FCC-LMS-Facility|51249}}
* [https://wbai-nowthen.blogspot.com/ Station History & Current Affairs]

{{Pacifica Radio}}
{{Radio in New York City}}
{{Laurel Leaf Award}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1941 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:1960 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1960s]]
[[Category:Pacifica Foundation stations]]
[[Category:Radio stations in New York City|BAI]]