There was Arthur Dent, whose house was threatened by the impending construction of a highway, then obliterated by aliens in a "Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy." There was Carl Fredericksen, who watched his neighborhood get razed for new construction until he decided to convert his home into a airship with balloons in "Up." And there was Lillian Kaushtupper, who handcuffed herself to a bulldozer in hopes of preventing a neighborhood development in "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."
Now, there's Kevin Shanahan, whose rent-controlled apartment in Hell's Kitchen is the last thing keeping his landlord from leveling the building for condos. Shanahan refuses to take a $400,000 buyout.
Shanahan is the protagonist of a new comedy web series called "The Holdouts," which "tackles the subject of the disappearing middle class" and "the gentrification and vanishing of New York City," according to a press release. The series is the creation of Stephen Girasuolo and Dan Menke.
"CBGB, Mars Bar, Joe's Diner, Blatt Billiards, Cedar Taver, McHale's Kenny Castaways — it's all gone," says Shanahan, played by Bronx-born actor Kevin Corrigan, in the trailer's voice-over.
"They won't be happy until this whole island is one big Duane Reade with a Starbucks inside and an IHOP inside that and a Bank of America inside that," he says.
Citing the popularity of other gentrification-focused shows and sites including the WNYC show "There Goes the Neighborhood" and Jeremiah Moss' blog "Vanishing New York," the show's production company is now looking to raise $35,000 on Kickstarter by June 28.
They hope to use the funds to supporting the creation and distribution of three 5 to 7-minute episodes, which would drop in late August or early September.
Donors who pledge $1000 will get to make a cameo.
We're pretty sure Moss is already waiting for the first episode to drop:
The Holdouts, starring Kevin Corrigan, is the story of our lives. My life, anyway. And probably yours. https://t.co/TdmUqly7Lx
— Jeremiah Moss (@jeremoss) June 3, 2016
Watch the trailer below.
