The story of the viral Danny Devito shrine at Purchase College, and the art student who created it.
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This story was produced, edited, mixed and scored by me, as a project for my podcasting class at Purchase College. I finished it back in May, so the disclosure in the episode is a little outdated: I’m now an intern at the Purchase Phoenix instead of just a contributor.

All music is original, and composed by me.

Tweets referenced in the story, in the order they appear:
https://twitter.com/emfriedchicken/status/1061100076494454786 
https://twitter.com/slackerdook/status/1062425657983021059
https://twitter.com/DittmanRat/status/1062432989945217024 
https://twitter.com/oooGeezy/status/1062443332108922880
https://twitter.com/DannyDeVito/status/1063495379952394240

Photo of the shrine: 
https://twitter.com/vioIetends/status/1063613094620852224

Empty Spaces of Purchase College: The Shrine

The story of my uncle’s epic motorcycle journey across the US.
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Produced, edited, mixed, and scored by me.

Photo by Kate Albright.

Special thanks to transom.org and training.npr.org for their wonderful articles on various aspects of podcast creation. 

If you want to learn about camping on BLM land: https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/camping 

Also, here’s the New York Times article I referenced about the dot com boom: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/24/business/a-city-takes-a-breath-after-the-dot-com-crash-san-francisco-s-economy-is-slowing.html

Deer vs. Leg

A closed-down supermarket, a mall that used to be a train station, and the debate over how to utilize a strange and beloved property in Montclair, NJ.
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**Update** (2021): www.montclairlocal.news/2021/07/23/judge-rules-on-lackawanna-owner-says-he-will-file-new-application-with-planning-board/ 

This story was produced, edited, mixed and scored by me. Audio from planning board meeting used with permission from Rick Gearhart, Station Manager of Montclair TV34. Created as an entry for NPR's Student Podcast Challenge: College Edition. Cover photo by me. 

This has been one of the most ambitious projects I’ve undertaken, and though I’m proud of how it turned out, the ongoing story of Lackawanna is too complex to properly cover in an eight minute piece. For further info, check out the link’s I’ve included at the end of the show notes.

Many of the details of the recent history and controversy surrounding Lackawanna—like what year the pathmark closed, and when the station was converted into a mall—I learned through local news articles, which I’ve linked to. I’ve also included articles about the lawsuit against the planning board, a topic which I chose not to cover in this story. This choice was partly a time consideration, but more importantly I felt that the lawsuit became less relevant after the property was sold, since the new owners will propose their own development plan. I did interview Priscilla Eshelman, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, before the news of the ownership change. I’m thankful to her and everyone else who spoke to me for this story, including those who didn’t end up in the completed piece.

I also reached out to Pinnacle and Hampshire, the companies who owned the property until recently, and to some members of the Montclair planning board. Board members Robin Schlager and John Wynn told me they were unable to do interviews because of the ongoing lawsuit. I was also unable to interview any representatives from the companies. However, during my last week of work on the story, Martin Schwartz from the Montclair planning board did get in touch with me. I asked to schedule an interview with him, but didn’t receive a response.

Recent Lackawanna history: 
https://baristanet.com/2019/02/montclair-planning-board-approves-lackawanna-application-lidl-supermarket-coming/ 
https://www.montclairlocal.news/2020/07/16/in-wait-of-a-supermarket-in-montclairs-fourth-ward/ 
https://www.montclairlocal.news/2019/05/16/lackawanna-endangered-montclair-nj/ 

Info about Montclair train stations: 
https://www.montclairhistory.org/history-1 
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/578f8162440243f06f66703b/t/5be1a11488251ba78c25bb79/1541513522523/Train+Stations+of+Montclair.pdf

Archived website for Lackawanna development proposal*: https://web.archive.org/web/20201025195751/https://lackawannaplaza.com/

Planning board meeting on 2/11/2019:
https://youtu.be/dKbfe3LmFFA 

Info about the lawsuit:
https://www.montclairlocal.news/2020/11/05/lawyer-to-judge-send-lackawanna-plan-back-to-board/ 
https://baristanet.com/2020/08/lidl-announces-new-locations-but-montclairs-lackawanna-plaza-not-on-list/ 
Official website: https://abetterlackawanna.org/ 

New owners:
https://baristanet.com/2021/02/montclair-new-jersey-lackawanna-plaza-owner-announces-fresh-vision-and-grocery-store-to-long-vacant-space/ 
https://www.montclairlocal.news/2021/02/03/lackawanna-redevelopment/ 

Article about SNAP benefits and grocery delivery: https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/23/21530163/instacart-aldi-partnering-food-stamps-grocery-delivery 

(disclosure: my mom freelances for Montclair Local)

*I also referenced a map of the proposed development, which was posted on its website. The website is off the internet now, and the site map wasn’t included in the wayback machine archive, though I still have the PDF version.

Lackawanna Is Not a Train Station

Songwriter, producer and audio storyteller

Lucy Albright

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