First, during the weekend of the big snow, the Department of Buildings dragged Novac Noury’s music equipment out of his Little West 12th St. building — piling it under a tarp, which soon blew off. Then, Christmas Eve, workers started dismantling the building from the top. D.O.B. has deemed the structure — next to the swank, new Standard Hotel — “compromised.” Noury said several other keyboards that were controlled by his patented wireless Arrow Keyboard system were destroyed, including a Hammond organ, a Mellotron and a Clavinet. He largely salvaged his 24-track recording equipment, though. Noury said D.O.B. had told him he couldn’t go up to the third floor, yet never gave him notice they were going to remove his equipment. A disco-era performer, Noury formerly ran an after-hours club, R.S.V.P., for Studio 54 revelers at the building. A clue to the condemned structure’s partying past are its quirky “hieroglyphics” — Arrow Keyboards, representing man, and hearts, for woman.
Nowadays, Noury leads local senior groups in sing-alongs. “In a paradoxical way, I wore a Santa Claus hat and clasped my hands because I just came from Our Lady of Pompei Church [on Carmine St.], doing a Christmas performance there,” he noted. He plans to build a “mini-inn” on the site, but is searching for a developer partner. In the meantime, he had hoped to construct a “green, pyramid, satellite penthouse” on the existing building, to be moved later to the top of his planned 10-story building. “I’ve thought about this project for 25 years,” he said. Opposite page, bottom, a Standard Grill employee took a break near the pile of Noury’s musical equipment and other items.
Lincoln Anderson.
Villager photos by J.B. Nicholas
