Probably nobody was doing anything ravingly illegal or even collecting bribes. That’s a marginal part of town, lots of warehouses and substandard or at least very modest housing, so anything that went in there (and the artists did improve the neighborhood) was tolerated or at any rate given many warnings before enforcement took over, if it ever did. Mostly they seem to have ignored citations.
Many now high-end neighborhoods in NY - such as SOHO - started thus, so the authorities probably slightly looked the other way. However, the person who knew all about this was the owner of the property, who was a slumlord and should spend the rest of his days in jail.
I am so disgusted by some of the comments on FR. Okay, maybe these young people were nasty, gross, had tattoos, hated Trump (but they probably hated Hillary, too, and in any case, 80% of them didn’t even vote) but that doesn’t mean it’s okay for them to burn to death.
There’s a reason for building codes and it’s not just authoritarian intrusion.
I am saddened at the story.
Reminds me of how we little kids used to like to construct blanket tent cities inside the house. Except this fantasy existence went on 24/7.
God remember them. Some of these lives may have been sad indeed. Never had a chance to really grow up because there weren’t any plausible mentors.
I imagine NY versions were more sanely regimented. You can be all the artiste you please, but you got to follow these rules or out you go. Certainly no room for pallet staircases. How did the slumlord collect his pay? That’s why I was questioning whether a commune like arrangement existed among the people in it. A kind of local anarchist government, if I may use the oxymoron.