NYC Radio: After Court Order, WBAI Resumes Some Local Content

Legal action may temporarily save WBAI 99.5 FM, staffers said Tuesday.

Just one day after the station’s owner, the Pacifica Foundation, announced that original programming would end at WBAI — and shuttered its Atlantic Avenue worksite — a volunteer host at the decades-old, listener-supported radio station alerted the Brooklyn Eagle to a court order that could keep the storied broadcaster creating, at least in the short term.

“My hope is that there can be a resolution and that WBAI can be resurrected,” journalist Jeff Simmons, who hosts two shows on WBAI, told the Eagle Monday.

Linda Perry

According to court documents, a Manhattan Supreme Court judge determined Monday night that, pending a hearing on Oct. 18 at which Pacifica is ordered to show cause for the closure, the parent company is barred from terminating any WBAI employees or impeding the station’s regularly scheduled programming in any way.

The judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking Pacifica from shutting down the station.

Linda Perry, program director at WBAI, tweeted early Tuesday that the station managed to get an injunction and that the programming was legally back in the hands of WBAI personnel. Perry further noted that producers are meeting Tuesday night and a WBAI board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.

WBAI is claiming that Pacifica violated its rights — not only under common and not-for-profit law, but also under its own bylaws, as well as the station’s free speech rights, a lawsuit filed by attorney Arthur Schwartz shows.

In the meantime, WBAI’s parent company has added an open letter to the station’s website. As of Tuesday morning, the website also shows a schedule of mostly local programming for the rest of the week.