New York City Repertory Cinema

[domino harvey]

To the surprise of no one who’s been to a Saturday show at MoMA

[hearthesilence]

To the surprise of no one who’s been to a Saturday show at MoMA

Jesus, I've posted about MoMA's filmgoing audience on this forum. It's crazy.

I'm not on a first-name basis with the employees, but I do know their faces and try to be nice to them knowing the crap they probably deal with, so it really saddens me to hear this.

[Drucker]

To the surprise of no one who’s been to a Saturday show at MoMA

Jesus, I've posted about MoMA's filmgoing audience on this forum. It's crazy.

I'm not on a first-name basis with the employees, but I do know their faces and try to be nice to them knowing the crap they probably deal with, so it really saddens me to hear this.

I feel like MOMA is the one theater in NYC I haven't seen a deranged person! What are these anecdotes?

[hearthesilence]

It's just insanely cranky and short-tempered people you have to watch out for. There are too many incidents to name them all, there's always someone who reacts badly to any given thing. To be fair, these people are clearly in the minority, but a minority of a large audience (at least large for a repertory venue) can still translate into common occurrences involving different individuals every time.

I know I posted about a fist fight that almost broke out between two older individuals during a weekend afternoon screening of All That Heaven Allows - I think FrauBlaucher said he was there too.

Another time, this guy kindly tried to help an elderly man who looked like he was going to walk into the revolving door, and the elderly man's response was to scream into his face "I'm blind you, schmuck!"

I mentioned a while back running into Mike Reiss a few times at MoMA - obviously what's happened is pretty awful, but I wonder if he ever considered using the usual shit that falls short of bodily harm as material?

[hearthesilence]

Forgot one weird one I'm pretty sure I posted about before - I went to see Eastern Promises at a MoMA program celebrating Focus Features' anniversary, and during the opening barber scene, after two people were cracking up at what was clearly intentional humor running through the entire scene, some guy actually yelled at them. He actually said something like "is this really FUNNY?!?" and the response was "Um....yeah?"

[FrauBlucher]

I know I posted about a fist fight that almost broke out between two older individuals during a weekend afternoon screening of All That Heaven Allows - I think FrauBlaucher said he was there too.

I was confirming with Drucker on a fight that almost broke out at the FF before a screening of Chimes at Midnight. Your post was sandwiched between ours (page 8 of this thread). But it's just an indictment of the crowds at the NYC Rep houses. There are those that feel entitled and not afraid to display it, and they are more often than not old-timers.

I haven't been to a MOMA screening in quite a while. Sorry to hear about the attack. Thankfully not as tragic as it could've been.

[Black Hat]

I was there yesterday, wild times. MoMA & FF are a toss up with which one is most uncivilized, but FF has that old lady Frau and I have talked about, a true legend of the game. I’m pretty sure I saw her at one of the Mifune screenings being surpringly quiet.

[hearthesilence]

Police have identified the suspect as Gary Cabana. He looks vaguely familiar as someone I've probably seen at screenings but I'm pretty sure I've never had any interaction with the guy. (The original NYPD tweet for those who encounter a paywall in the above link.)

I actually had plans to go this weekend to catch some 35mm screenings from that Bogdanovich program, but I just started another project for work and was feeling too wiped out to go out in the windy and freezing weather. I'm glad it wasn't more serious but it doesn't sound like many people knew what was going on when the museum was cleared out, with many believing it was a shooter.

[FrauBlucher]

The Police have released the video. Pretty disturbing. It sounds like he's had a history causing problems at MOMA. He has probably frequented other Rep houses around NY. His social media pages are littered with him being at theaters- film and broadway shows.

[swo17]

The original link indicated he was a regular who had just had his membership revoked the day before for "repeat disturbances"

[Black Hat]

Holy shit this guy? He’s always around. He’s the guy who usually sits in the front row left side and before the movies starts turns to the audience saying something about the film, sometimes asks if anyone has seen it, occasionally attempts a joke, then tells everyone when the movie is going to start. Usually people would have a good laugh. While no doubt eccentric he seemed pretty harmless.

[Black Hat]

Wow I just saw the video and my mind is
blown. In a million years I wouldn’t say that dude can hop foot stool, let alone a desk, and attack people in that way. Shame on MoMA security.

[FrauBlucher]

While no doubt eccentric he seemed pretty harmless.

...until you take away his membership

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I certainly don’t want to sound like an insensitive jerk when it comes to staff and labor, but what’s the point of having security when they can’t help intervene in a situation like this? The video is absolutely frightening. The security guard just throws objects the entire time. I know keeping calm in a moment like this must be difficult, but security has to be specifically trained to handle situations like this, not frontline visitor service people. Security should have intervened from the start and dealt with him before it even got this far.

I’ve worked in museums and fine art for about six years and expect this to be a massive point of conversation among staff and upper-management for the next few weeks. I’ve already been seeing frontline staff I know posting about this.

[Black Hat]

Yeah, he was definitely on my ‘never make eye contact’ list. People probably complained about his pre-screening missives one too many times. Man, I really hope they don’t over react to this and change how things work over there. I’ve always liked the MoMA vibes.

[hearthesilence]

It looks like the guard had a pistol though it's a little tough to make out in the security video. I don't have experience in security, so I'd be curious as to knowing the proper way of handling this. He did have a split second where he could've shot him at close range without worrying about hitting museum staff - would such action be advisable? I wouldn't think so, but the more I think about it, if the guy got over the desk before he could be grabbed and you needed fast action without potential harm coming to either the guard or the staff, what else could you do?

[FrauBlucher]

Man, I really hope they don’t over react to this and change how things work over there. I’ve always liked the MoMA vibes.

I don't know what they can really do. Maybe have metal detectors.

[hearthesilence]

Actually, that might be a walkie talkie, not a gun (and my mistake brings to mind E.T.'s bit of revisionism).

Re: what they can do going forward, in the video, the staff members who got stabbed were somewhat trapped given the design of that reception area. By the time they knew what was going on, their only way out was probably to jump the desk themselves. It's awkward enough that it left no room for hesitation as it's not a quick way out, and it also leaves virtually no room to simply back away from a lunging attacker. So with that in mind, they could put up a plexiglass wall/barrier across the entire length of that desk (sort of like what you'd see at a hockey rink) so no one can jump into that area, and then simply incorporate some kind of opening (maybe with a sliding panel) that allows things to be passed over the desk.

[Drucker]

The Police have released the video. Pretty disturbing. It sounds like he's had a history causing problems at MOMA. He has probably frequented other Rep houses around NY. His social media pages are littered with him being at theaters- film and broadway shows.

Yes this is my read. I'm well aware of the NYC rep freaks, but have never experienced one at MOMA.

The security guard situation is of course a joke all over this city now. In Rockefeller Center's Subway station, the building management has a 'security guard' but a few weeks ago it was an unarmed woman that appeared no bigger than 5'2" and ~120 pounds tops. I assume these security guards are there to just call police if there's an actual need, but the reality is whether you are employed at a grocery store, MOMA, or a building company, you don't really have any more 'power' to intervene if you are a cashier or someone employed as security.

[Black Hat]

Knowing the psychos and freaks who attend screenings around the city you always figured something like this would happen amongst themselves, not of all people, with the MoMA staff who, of all the theaters here, are as nondescript (the way the set-up there is you could go without having a single interaction with them) an entity as there is. That said, I'm still shocked this happened and it was that guy. Bizarre that he's still on the lam too. I also don't understand why they released the security video. They've canceled their screenings for the next few days so it'll be interesting to see how the place moves forward. I feel awful for Larry Clark and really hope they bring him back. Just a strange, strange story all around.

[Lemmy Caution]

In college, I worked as a Pinkerton security guard at a suburban NJ AT&T building (essentially getting paid to study). We received no training on what to do if someone broke in or became violent/disruptive. There were walkie-talkies we never used, so presumably we could report an incident to other untrained guards at other AT&T buildings in the area. Calling the police would probably be a better priority in an emergency. But I can't recall how to handle an emergency ever being discussed in the 3 years I worked there.

It seemed the main point of having 24 hour guards was the appearance of safety, but mostly it was believed that it significantly reduced insurance costs (fire, theft, property damage). It's a fairly low-wage job with high turnover, often more a facade of order and safety than genuine protection.

[Drucker]

Knowing the psychos and freaks who attend screenings around the city you always figured something like this would happen amongst themselves, not of all people, with the MoMA staff who, of all the theaters here, are as nondescript (the way the set-up there is you could go without having a single interaction with them) an entity as there is. That said, I'm still shocked this happened and it was that guy. Bizarre that he's still on the lam too. I also don't understand why they released the security video. They've canceled their screenings for the next few days so it'll be interesting to see how the place moves forward. I feel awful for Larry Clark and really hope they bring him back. Just a strange, strange story all around.

Side note, I was lucky enough to attend the Thursday screening of Passing Through and Clark did a Q&A after (I believe he said he was going to do one after every screening). It was a joy to attend and if they reschedule it, not to be missed.

[Altair]

As tragic as this event is, I have to say reading this thread, I would expect nothing less from New York repertory cinema screenings - in a way this is the most 'New York' conversation imaginable...

[ballmouse]

It seemed the main point of having 24 hour guards was the appearance of safety, but mostly it was believed that it significantly reduced insurance costs (fire, theft, property damage). It's a fairly low-wage job with high turnover, often more a facade of order and safety than genuine protection.

A building I've been visiting for years now has a security guard (it previously had no one). I asked him if there was an increase in crime in the area. He laughed and said his job was the equivalent of an early retirement. It was purely for insurance purposes.

[Black Hat]

you cant make it up