ICON Artist

Someone is trying to let Icon Realty know how they feel about the eviction of the beloved Stage Restaurant. Reader Kate Puls sent in this photo from 441 E. 9th St.:



The ICON logo has been reworked to read: "I AM CON ARTIST." The sign was also tagged with the demand, "LET STAGE LIVE!" and the #SaveNYC hashtag.



This address happens to be the former home of New York School poet Frank O'Hara. Not his last place, which was demolished for a condo, but the place where he wrote enough poems, the GVSHP put a plaque on the wall. Maybe it was Frank's ghost, home from a long stroll, who marked up the Icon sign.

Further along, at 445 E. 9th, he wrote the same messages on another ICON sign. What looks like a second hand added: "The rent is too fucking high, you greedy fucks!" To which someone else replied, "yes!!"

A 300-square-foot retail space here goes for $5,000 per month.