Story on Detroit's Abandoned buildings

**Stephen McGee** · April-09-10, 02:39 PM

Check out http://abcnews.go.com/WN/ ABC World News tomorrow night [[Sat) at 8pm for a story my footage on people doing things in detroit's abandoned building [[ie packard plant dump truck falling from 4th floor/ 20 fridges pushed out of 14th floor of buildings for scrap/and four photographs of urban exploration; grand piano, fire, hole and cityscape). Also it will be on the morning show on Sunday and maybe [[if the weekend has a positive response) Good Morning America on Monday.

**jt1** · April-09-10, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by Stephen McGee

Check out http://abcnews.go.com/WN/ ABC World News tomorrow night [[Sat) at 8pm for a story my footage on people doing things in detroit's abandoned building [[ie packard plant dump truck falling from 4th floor/ 20 fridges pushed out of 14th floor of buildings for scrap/and four photographs of urban exploration; grand piano, fire, hole and cityscape). Also it will be on the morning show on Sunday and maybe [[if the weekend has a positive response) Good Morning America on Monday.

Awesome, let's see if we can encourage more people to do stuoid shit like pushing a dump truck out of a building.

**Gsgeorge** · April-09-10, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by Stephen McGee

[[ie packard plant dump truck falling from 4th floor/ 20 fridges pushed out of 14th floor of buildings for scrap

A big Thumbs Down to the dummies who pushed the truck out of the Packard. And I really hate how the media glorified it like, "look, Detroit's such a wreck you can do whatever you want in it like you're the last man on post-apocalypse Earth, isn't that amazing?" These idiots and the Survival Cracka vandals should be prosecuted for endangering others and further deteriorating our city.

**detroitsgwenivere** · April-10-10, 12:47 AM

Too bad they didn't do a story about all the people in this city who are volunteering their time and money to deal with all this abandoned sh*t. I would have liked to be on ABC news!!!!

Canute · April-10-10, 01:53 PM

You strike me as an opportunistic busybody with no story of your own to tell. Got any other old news stories to rehash? What is there possibly to be gained by airing this footage, other than enabling you to crow about it here?

DC48080 · April-10-10, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by Canute

You strike me as an opportunistic busybody with no story of your own to tell. Got any other old news stories to rehash? What is there possibly to be gained by airing this footage, other than enabling you to crow about it here?

Perhaps others around the country may find it interesting. Just because you don't care for it does not mean it shouldn't be aired.

Lighten up, Francis

**lizaanne** · April-10-10, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by Canute

You strike me as an opportunistic busybody with no story of your own to tell. Got any other old news stories to rehash? What is there possibly to be gained by airing this footage, other than enabling you to crow about it here?

How incredibly rude and insulting! Do you always go around telling people what they do sucks? You must be a blast at parties.

Maybe, just maybe, someone might see these types of stories and see the potential in the city and come here with some insight to try to help put it back together again. If you don't tell your story, no one knows you need any help.

Blarf · April-10-10, 03:56 PM

Originally Posted by Gsgeorge

A big Thumbs Down to the dummies who pushed the truck out of the Packard. And I really hate how the media glorified it like, "look, Detroit's such a wreck you can do whatever you want in it like you're the last man on post-apocalypse Earth, isn't that amazing?" These idiots and the Survival Cracka vandals should be prosecuted for endangering others and further deteriorating our city.

Do you mean the same city that seized and shut down a viable Packard Plant, kicked out all the tenants and businesses, and left the whole place open to scrap and dump trash?

Scrappers are cutting support beams out, causing entire sections of the plant to collapse, and you're bitching about someone pushing a truck out of a window?

**WaCoTS** · April-10-10, 07:36 PM

i agree, this is old news rehashed.

pretty pointless and sensational

besides, isnt "urban exploring" pretty passe by now? lol

**burns2503** · April-11-10, 03:04 PM

Lets see here, people are doing these things in Detroit, whether from the city or suburbs, and some would rather blast the photographer who happens to capture it happening? Not really making the logical connection here. Here is an idea, how about people stop destroying the buildings.

**Huggybear** · April-11-10, 03:09 PM

Would some of these things have happened if they were not being photographed? Was it just a fortuitous coincidence to be there with a camcorder when the dump truck was pushed out?

Originally Posted by burns2503

Lets see here, people are doing these things in Detroit, whether from the city or suburbs, and some would rather blast the photographer who happens to capture it happening? Not really making the logical connection here. Here is an idea, how about people stop destroying the buildings.

**Stephen McGee** · April-11-10, 06:57 PM

The story was held by ABC till next weekend. Part of this story first aired in the Wall Street Journal. Now it will be aired on ABC world news. As a Detroiter by choice, I document daily what I see around me. On my way to church one afternoon I saw the dumptruck hanging out of the packard plant window and stopped by to check it out. I returned two more times to photograph it in various times of the day. Two months later on my way to church again, from Mt. Elliot road I saw someone in the window of the building next to the truck and I had my friend drop me off. I thought they were going to be scrappers but it turned out to be suburbanites. I asked permission to document their attempts to push the truck out the window. I did not stage anything or ask them to do anything.
To me this story and other stories like it are either the ending point or the peak of an age of Detroit where anyone could do anything they wanted, unregulated. I hope that by showing this story and stories like it, people will be forced to a point of change. Once others grab hold of a movement, the change comes. How it will come is what I am excited about.

Last week there was a body in a car that was set ablaze in the Packard Plant. I chose not to photograph that.

Yesterday I shot photos for Avalon because they were voted in the top 100 places to be in the USA [[or something awesome like that).

It seems to me also that stories like this are overwhelming the airwaves, news articles and tv stations, but the positive stories are out there also being published, and published in an increasing measure. If we turn a blind side to stories like this and forget that other sides exist then we disregard and discredit the distance we have traveled in our efforts to bring back, push forward, persevere towards the city that for one reason or another, we are all here to live in.

Change starts with the individual and beckons for community action.

**Lowell** · April-11-10, 07:55 PM

Hang in there and keep doing your thing Stephen. Some people are always going to rag on you, even if they have never seen what you have done or have any idea what your final product will be. It comes with the territory when you put yourself out there.

Good luck and keep the rest of us updated.

**rjlj** · April-11-10, 09:33 PM

Ironic how someone who claims so much love for the city would pimp out the city to benefit ones career.

**English** · April-11-10, 10:38 PM

Stephen, thanks for posting here and explaining your side of the story. I found this interesting:

Originally Posted by Stephen McGee

To me this story and other stories like it are either the ending point or the peak of an age of Detroit where anyone could do anything they wanted, unregulated. I hope that by showing this story and stories like it, people will be forced to a point of change. Once others grab hold of a movement, the change comes. How it will come is what I am excited about.

I appreciate that you're striving to tell a nuanced story. However, 21st century journalism is built upon sensationalism and ratings. Therefore, it's no wonder that your work around something positive [[Avalon Bakery) is being backgrounded, while the Packard Plant shenanigans are being featured. An ABC News story about the Avalon owners would have been amazing, but the corporate media has no incentive to highlight that kind of story.

Most Detroiters know that outrageous things like this happen. We've read and viewed stories like this for years, from the gleeful Devil's Night reporting to the breathless accounts of the frozen man in the old Roosevelt warehouse. What Detroiters, the nation, and the world needs is to see that another Detroit is possible, and is being born right before our eyes.

Canute · April-12-10, 06:28 AM

Ugh. Stephen, get over yourself.

DC48080 · April-12-10, 07:35 AM

Originally Posted by Canute

Ugh. Stephen, get over yourself.

Ugh. Canute, grow the hell up. Why don't you create something and see how it feels to have a loser on the internet try to tear you down about it.

**barnesfoto** · April-12-10, 07:40 AM

^What he said. The folks who rip into Stephen's work are welcome to post links to their positive videos or photo streams. Let's see them.

**Carey** · April-12-10, 10:00 AM

Stephen is a Detroiter, and one of the city's most accomplished photographers/videographers. He works around the world, but his presence here, like that of many other young artists, makes Detroit a richer and more sophisticated place. His video of the Packard plant dump-truck dumping was classic journalism -- those nuts were hard at work at that absurd stunt long before Stephen and his cameras came along, and the Wall Street Journal -- hardly a sensantionalist paper -- saw the news value in running the video and story about an incident that, however sadly, represents the nihilism in modern-day Detroit. Why can't we both love Detroit and also acknowledge that the breadth of its decline is unique, amazing, sad -- and newsworthy?

**kraig** · April-12-10, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Blarf

Do you mean the same city that seized and shut down a viable Packard Plant, kicked out all the tenants and businesses, and left the whole place open to scrap and dump trash?

Scrappers are cutting support beams out, causing entire sections of the plant to collapse, and you're bitching about someone pushing a truck out of a window?

When the City had the money, a plan and the opportunity to tear down the Packard Plant they were blocked. Now look at it. Not everything can be saved.

Blarf · April-12-10, 04:26 PM

Originally Posted by kraig

When the City had the money, a plan and the opportunity to tear down the Packard Plant they were blocked. Now look at it. Not everything can be saved.

They were blocked because they illegally seized the property, which is why they lost the lawsuit that was jammed up in the courts for something like 8 years. During that time they failed to provide proper security for the complex.

**kraig** · April-13-10, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by Blarf

They were blocked because they illegally seized the property, which is why they lost the lawsuit that was jammed up in the courts for something like 8 years. During that time they failed to provide proper security for the complex.

The Packard Plant was completely jacked up well before the city sought to demolish it.