Vox Pop has once again been seized by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for back taxes accrued in 2006 and 2007 while under the stewardship of Sander Hicks. Here is an email from Debi Ryan, who runs the popular cafe, bookstore and performance space on Cortelyou Road in Ditmas Park.

As I am sure you all remember, Vox Pop was seized just a few days before Christmas for the same reason.  At that time, we raised and made a payment of $10,000 towards the 2006 and 2007 unpaid taxes in the amount of $56,000 as a down payment and were in the process of negotiating a repayment plan that Vox Pop could realistically pay.  Unfortunately, the Supervisor we were working with has left the State agency, and his replacement will not be available until tomorrow.  We have paid, and continue to pay our current taxes.

At this point in time we are waiting to speak with the State to determine what the appropriate next steps are.  The midlevel representative from the State who chose to seize our assets today stated we must pay the complete newly assessed tax debt of $66,000 prior to reopening, but we are hoping to renegotiate with the new Supervisor.

On a more positive note, Vox Pop is proud to say that it has almost completely paid off the legacy debt to vendors, former employees and the landlord over the past year and we are optimistic that the warming weather will increse our revenue and allow us to accelerate our payments even further.  Ironically, we were poised to launch our new outdoor patio cafe with table service and anticipate being able to do so as soon as we are reopened.

Thanks so much for your continued interest and support and I will fill you in on further details as soon as they are available.

Debi Ryan
Vox Pop Inc