E-mail Showing Why WBAI Was Down on Saturday Morning August 27, 2016

Here is the E-mail we got from the WBAI General Manager, eight hours after the station had gone off the air. Note: phone numbers, some E-mail addresses and the form for the recipients to acknowledge receipt of the advisory by fax have been redacted.

Subject: Fwd: REMINDER MAIN SWITCH REPLACEMENT AND SUBSEQUENT POWER SHUTDOWN 8/27/2016 FROM 0001HRS UNTIL 0800HRS
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2016 08:59:08 -0400
From: Berthold Reimers
To: staffannounce@wbai.org

Dear all,
Concerning WBAI being off the air please see e-mail about temporary shut down by the Empire State for maintenance and repair. I am in contact with Tony Ryan (although he is out sick) and Jake Glanz our tower engineer. We will keep you posted.

Thanks,
Berthold

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shane O'Donoghue
Date: Friday, August 26, 2016
Subject: REMINDER MAIN SWITCH REPLACEMENT AND SUBSEQUENT POWER SHUTDOWN 8/27/2016 FROM 0001HRS UNTIL 0800HRS
To: Edward Driscoll, Brian Tuohy, John Booth, Richard Ross, Alex Roman, Chris Ambrose, Tony Ryan, Gary Meade, Cremin, Luke, Seydor, Scott, John Frercks, Little, Wendell, Mbaye Diop, Russ Hamm, Zerafa, Chris J., Berthold Reimers, Cc: Jake Nouel, Timothy Dailey, Joseph Noto, Joseph Bellina, Bob Lipiro, Michael Giunta, Patrick Philbin, Wayne Hostetler, James McNeill, Kevin Fisher, Michael Savitsky, Michael T. Christatos, Richard Hauser, Anton Mittag, Dannie Raghunath, Seydor, Scott, John Frercks, Kyle Fisher, Tom Silliman, Elizabeth Sullivan, Stacey-Ann Hosang

Please note this electrical shutdown scheduled per the below communication in on.

FROM: EMPIRE STATE BUILDING ED DRISCOLL

DATE: 8/17/2016

SUBJECT: ELECTRICAL PANEL REPLACEMENT

DATES: 8/27/2016.

TIME: 0001HRS — 0800HRS

Power Shutdown Notice: There will be a Power Shutdown scheduled for Saturday, 8/27/2016 beginning each day at 0001 HRS and concluding at 0800 HRS. During this shutdown we will be replacing a Main Switch in the Power Vault. As this work is not on the Tower, weather is not an issue and consequently we have no need of contingency dates. Thank you for your cooperation and if you have any questions please give Ed Driscoll (212-XXX-XXXX) or Shane O'Donoghue a call (212-XXX-XXXX)

Building to provide access to 84.5 Power Vault to Geller Electricians performing the replacement.

Power Shutdowns: 
Suites/BroadcasterRecommended Shutdown Status
8102E TOWERSTREAMOff or Auxiliary Site
8102W UNIVISION RADIOOff or Auxiliary Site
8103 RAINBOW BBESB Gas Gen Set
8104A FDNYOff, Auxiliary Site or Tenant Generator
8104B WBAI PACIFICAOff or Auxiliary Site
8105 ADVENT INDUSTRIALOff
8107 WBLSOff, Auxiliary Site or Gen Set Operation
8205 ARCHDIOCESE OF NYOff or Auxiliary Site
8207 ESB MAST LIGHTINGOff
8501 EMMISTenant's Generator
8509 SKANSKA (WABC MICROWAVE DD LEVEL)Off
E1 CON EDOff or Auxiliary Site

At 0001hrs, the Power will be shut down at the above noted locations. This shutdown is scheduled to last eight (8) hours in total. At 0800HRS, the new panel will be energized and all affected locations may return to normal function. For additional updates on this shutdown please check the Shutdown hotline at 212-XXX-XXXX.

Please acknowledge receipt of this notice by signing attached notice via e-mail @ edriscoll@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com or fax 646-XXX-XXXX. Attention: Ed Driscoll
....

From: Edward Driscoll
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 11:03 AM
To: ....
Subject: MAIN SWITCH REPLACEMENT AND SUBSEQUENT POWER SHUTDOWN 8/27/2016 FROM 0001HRS UNTIL 0800HRS
....

The beginning of a second E-mail can be seen above. This second E-mail has the exact same information as the E-mail above it, but it is clearly dated the morning of August 17, 2016, which means that WBAI Management had plenty of time to alert the Staff who were going to be on the air that morning so people wouldn't be wondering what was going on, and wondering if something truly drastic was happening. One producer did wonder aloud if Federal Marshals were going to come storming into the station.


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