Comments on: Planet Rooth Gallery to move, owner says landlord and nightclub to blame

By: Dan Adams

Dan Adams — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:06:25 +0000

went to “North Park Nights”, what a waste of time! It’s on the third sat. of the month, one week after “Ray at Night” Smart move! Everyone goes to “Ray at Night” & NOBODY goes one week later. Most of the galleries don’t even open. As for Gustaf, what’s new? It’s the same everywhere. Artist’s come in to a crappy area of town, set up shop, bring the public in, voila, rent goes up, the artist’s get pushed out. Same old, same old.

By: Gabriela

Gabriela — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:49:02 +0000

Maybe we could host a North Park Gladiator Night: Gustaf vs. all his foes in a coliseum made from barrel staves! That just might save the neighborhood and give the bored lions at the zoo down the street some excitement.

By: nix the drama

nix the drama — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:08:30 +0000

No one comes to North Park Nights, so get over the stupid drama of what should be called what. Gustaf owns the website because he built it. Why should he give it up? And anyone who’s been in the area for years knows that True North has caused a plethora of problems for residents here. Most locals don’t shit where they sleep but TN’s patrons aren’t locals now are they? The only reason people on this street hate on Gustaf is because he isn’t afraid to protect what he’s created or to call it like he sees it when the whiners and moaners aren’t handed a 15,000 person mailing list for free. Get over yourselves. If you think you can do it better than Gustaf has, now is the chance you’ve been waiting for. But wait! After Planet Rooth is gone, who will you gripe about?

By: Bitter Negative Complainer

Bitter Negative Complainer — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:57:42 +0000

Really?? -
“I shouldn’t live where I am because these people have no drunk etiquette?” G. Rooth
Many times Mr. Rooth’s own drunken behavior at his gallery drove away his business. Now he claims it’s the other drunks fault? The Art business requires building sober, trusting relationships. Working well with the people that create the art and developing a loyal customer base, is step one. Once a month, for ten years, G. Rooth has had great art parties and a couple of times even had decent Art in there.

By: blah blah

blah blah — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:06:12 +0000

Good Riddance to Gustaf and Planet Rooth. What a joke. The problem with Ray at Night is Gustaf. It has always been about him. I was wondering who would finally get the nerve to sculpt a damn statue of him so we can praise Gustaf up and down for saving our neighborhood and making it such a great place to show art and live. – At least to shut this guy up. — Nobody did. I suspect that is the real reason Gustaf is taking his precious gallery to another neighborhood. ..and then going to drive Ray at Night into the ground because he owns the copyrights. Why are you interested in promoting the name any further? Oh yeah. Because you are pissed. Boo-hoo! Can we drop the name and just call the event North Park Nights…now? Ray at night is dead and the way Gustaf ran it… it should be.

By: KML

KML — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 04:47:56 +0000

North Park is going through a vicious cycle. Artists, intellects, activists, GLBT, and struggling musicians moved to North Park because of the cheap rents. Because of these people, NP went through some kind of Renaissance (about six years ago). Then came the gentrifications, hipster bars, Starbucks, and now the knuckleheads thanks to that place that used to be Shooterz. The high rents and presence of knuckleheads would drive those who once made NP a better place move to a better place (like further north). Because of the shenanigans that you would expect more on Garnet than 30th, North Park would be back to a terrible shithole like it was back in the Reagan/Bush I era.

Unfortunately, the greedy BA kowtowed to the likes of the Verant Group that would make NP meet its Waterloo.

By: james

james — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:07:32 +0000

Whaa and boo-fucking-hoo. Welcome to the real world, where upcoming neighborhoods attract bars, and yes, their fair share of douchebags. For better or worse (I’d personally go with worse), money runs the world, not art. Running away isn’t going to help your cause in the neighborhood you supposedly love. You sound bitter at best and delusional at worst.

By: Bar Wars

Bar Wars — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:48:34 +0000

And the response of the drinkers to nearby residents…see above. Enough said.

An additional reality: living along/near a small-community mixed-business/residential street is not bad when the businesses there exist primarily to serve the nearby residents. For example, owners of a barbershop, shoe repair shop, grocery, bike shop, or laundry mat aren’t normally dependent on attracting customers outside of the community, and generally hope to do well just serving the nearby residents. These types of businesses aren’t benefitted by promotional events, and don’t benefit directly (I know, the great tree-planting and powerwashing events…but that could be done other ways) by paying a business association an annual fee. When the business association gets the higher earning bar and restaurant owners to back formation of a Business Improvement District, the little neighborhood businesses are forced to subsidize those business owners who do want to attract as huge a number of outsiders as possible. The BID fee is just another cost to what may already be a marginal small business, and if the barber moves out, the BA can hope to attract a bar or restaurant to replace him/her. Higher overall tax revenue and BID fees are an incentive for the City to support this type of transition. In District 3, Toni, and now Todd, NEVER said/say “no” to the BID Council members when it comes to supporting Neighborhood Conditional Use Permits. The BID members are big voices in election outcomes, bigger than mine and my neighbors’.

By: John E. Utah

John E. Utah — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:41:22 +0000

Let’s not forget about other shitty places in northpark, like U-31. And yes, it is getting more violent. Last month my roomie received multiple stab wounds at a party in northpark, and he’s really not the type of guy to get stabbed. I heard Rocky Balboa did some damage though!

By: John E. Utah

John E. Utah — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:56:55 +0000

Does anyone remember scolari’s and how the douche bags in the condos across the street, whom us bar patrons would make fun of and run them out, complained so much to the city about, “noise”, that they were unable to renew any of their license’s? Then, what happens? Those douche bag get their new hangout spot…The Office. Any complaints from the people across the street? No, because now that’s their new hangout across the street from where they live.

By: Bar Wars

Bar Wars — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:59:00 +0000

The business associations in North Park and South Park support the opening of ever more alcohol-focused venues, because those are the ventures that make enough money to survive. Thank goodness for the Cal ABC, which has guidelines that at least prevents the opening of pure bars at a certain saturation point.

North Park Main Street and the South Park Business Group want businesses that survive, not out of concern for the quality of neighborhood life, but because of the potential for their business group to collect a Business Improvement District fee from every business. NPMS recently expanded their BID down 30th to Thorn. Each business there pays from $125 to $500, depending on number of employees. Those fees are used to promote 30th Street as an alcohol destination. Some of the fees are used to plant trees and powerwash sidewalks, but the main goal is promotion: to bring in as many people as possible who will spend a lot, as late into the night as possible. Alcohol is the main attractant that will accomplish that goal.

SPBG would love to form a BID, and one of their big supporters would be Sam Chammas, Whistle Stop and Station Tavern (yeah, lousy tater tots) owner (and part owner of Live Wire in NP).

The streets parallel to and crossing 30th have many residential properties. The people living in these homes and aprtments near the bars endure the noise, litter, drunks, and parking problems, and are routinely disrespected by the business group members. The most usual response by the business groups to the legitimate complaints of residents is “move if you don’t like it.”

By: guy lombardo

guy lombardo — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:57:18 +0000

RAY AT NIGHT has had a good run though when economies flounder, bars, hookers and bank robbers prosper.. for a little while at least. The Bush years took a lot of people down with them and though gustaf had a few bad days he rose like a phoenix …….in 3-d even! we all had fun and as the American dream goes , if it isn’t bought out by a major corporation it goes to crap and fades to dust…..having been in some of the first Ray at Night art events………. though now it’s a Barbi Streisand thing..you know……. MEMORIES IN THE CORNERS OF OUR MINDS…..blah blah blah! Praise God and the internet because at least one of them is sure to give you eternity…. though at times i question which one runs the best operating systems