Street band playing outside DC office windows is not sweet music to ears of Skadden lawyers
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Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is globally known for its corporate deal-making expertise.
But the Wall Street powerhouse has so far been stymied in its efforts to persuade the band playing much of the day outside its Washington, D.C., offices at 1440 New York Avenue, NW, to move to another location.
A member of the Spread Love band told the Washingtonian that an unidentified representative of the firm had offered $200 a week to have the band play anywhere else. However, because Spread Love’s current location is so good for busking, the group nixed the offer.
“You can’t give us $200 a week when each man makes, on average, $200 a day in this spot,” said the band’s drummer, who is known as Stixxx.
An internal Skadden memo obtained by Above the Law says the firm is also considering hiring a string quartet to take over the spot being used by Spread Love. Another alternative is pursuing a nuisance complaint with local government; however, the firm’s efforts to bring law enforcement into the fray went nowhere.
“We have determined that the Noise Control Protection Amendment Act of 2008 might help us,” the memo states. “It prohibits daytime noise above a certain threshold. We are purchasing the device required to conduct the decibel measurements. If the noise exceeds the legal threshold, and the law enforcement organizations still refuse to enforce, we can take the issue to the D.C. Council and the mayor’s office.”