BY LEVAR ALONZO | For the past three years, an East Village man has been inviting one or two people per week — often total strangers to him — into his apartment to be guests on his podcast.
Lured by fliers festooned around the East Village, more than 250 guests have shown up at Uluç Ülgen’s doorstep just to talk on mürmur. Guests have ranged from homeless persons and rock stars to politicos, like Carlina Rivera, the Democratic nominee for City Council District 2, and at least one of her opponents, Ronnie Cho. In fact, some of those talks ultimately don’t even get posted online because certain guests prefer to remain anonymous.
“mürmur is not a business. It’s a labor of love, something for the community,” Ülgen said. “I never turn anyone away.”
The 28-year-old, who lists his podcast on iTunes, was born in Turkey but raised in Minnesota. He said that since coming to this country, he has dealt with issues of shyness and trying to fit in.
“I went from being the most popular guy in my class in Turkey to being the foreign kid,” he said.
Since launching the podcast, Ülgen has gained confidence and become an outspoken and trusting person.
“I was the shy guy,” he reflected. “I used to get nervous to talk to people because of my accent. But by doing this, it has helped me to open up and get to know people.”
He started the podcast about four years ago after going through a rough patch. Ülgen had quit his job and took a trip to Turkey. For eight days he wandered from village to village and relied on strangers to help him. What resonated with him was their kindness, which restored his faith in humanity. That show of kindness from complete strangers inspired him to return to New York and do the same.
“The best guest on the podcast I get is someone I don’t know, so that we can talk and I get to know them,” Ülgen noted.
He views his space as a free platform for anyone who just wants to have a conversation and get whatever is on their mind off of it. It’s completely free of charge to be a guest on mürmur.
Although Ülgen views his podcast as a sociable service to the community, two weeks ago, his landlord gave him an ultimatum: basically, that he cease all recording because inviting guests into the building, at E. Fifth St. near Avenue B, poses a liability to its other tenants. If Ülgen wants to stay in his apartment, the landlord said, he would be subject to routine inspections to ensure he has no audio recording equipment of any kind. If he doesn’t comply to the ultimatum, he could be sued or evicted.
Landlord Robert Perl has said that if he wasn’t getting complaints from other tenants in the building, he would consider reversing his decision.
“There are other units that are, at times, being used for Airbnb and that exacerbates the problem,” Perl said, in an e-mail. “We have to deal with this regularly these days.”
Perl said that the guests on Ülgen’s show are “random people” and it’s a safety concern for other tenants. Plus, he, as the landlord, is ultimately responsible.
“If something were to happen in the building — say, a crime — who would be the one having to answer all the questions?” Perl asked.
Ülgen, on the other hand, stated that he always takes precaution by walking his guests up to his apartment and escorting them back out after the hourlong session. He said he has never heard of anyone complaining about him.
Even though this is crushing news to Ülgen, he has vowed that he won’t fight his landlord over it.
“If anything, he is an O.K. guy,” he said of Perl. “However, mürmur does need a new home, and I will have to move out next month.”
Ülgen said he has also gotten many comments from longtime listeners of the show that he didn’t know existed, and they are saddened by the news of mürmur going on hiatus from doing new podcasts.
“It’s like telling an artist you can’t paint in your apartment,” Ülgen said. “My air and my purpose for living is being stifled.”
Ülgen is turning to the community for help. He is in the process of looking for free space or an apartment that won’t have a problem with the podcast. He is also setting up a gofundme site at www.gofundme.com/justiceformurmur in hope of raising money for a new home for mürmur.
