Spike Lee's Jackson Birthday Bash May Be Moved To Prospect Park

NEW YORK — New York City officials want to find a larger place for Spike Lee to hold his celebration of Michael Jackson's birthday.

The filmmaker had planned to mark the late King of Pop's birthday with a block party-style bash in Brooklyn's Fort Greene park on Aug. 29, when Jackson would have turned 51.

But a spokeswoman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that city officials and Lee are looking at other sites because crowd estimates have grown.

The event's original permit envisioned 2,000 people attending. But because of nationwide publicity, organizers now expect the crowd to exceed 10,000.

The city says Brooklyn's Prospect Park is a possible alternative.

Lee collaborated on Jackson's video for "They Don't Care About Us."

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Spike Lee: http://40acres.com

Comments

[SPQR1775]

12:24 PM on 08/25/2009

HATERS,...­"YOU CAN'T STOP HIS SHINE"....­YES, HE WAS IN LIFE MORE POPULAR THAN ELVIS AND IN DEATH HE WILL BE EVEN MORE SO!" YES WE CAN, THE WORLD IS OURS, WHY IS IT THAT SOME BIGOTS THING THEY CAN KEEP US DOWN, THIS IS OUR TIME, OUR MOMENT,...­THIS IS WHAT CHANGE LOOKS LIKE! DEAL WITH IT! 2020 AMERICA WILL BE A MINORITY (LATIN/HIS­PANIC; BLACK; ASIAN; ARABS; FIRST AMERICANS; PACIFIC ISLANDERS; WEST INDIANS; AFRICAN) YES WE ARE THE MAJORITY AND WE WILL SHINE LIKE NEVER BEFORE. WE WILL BE YOUR DOCTORS, LAWYERS, PREACHERS, TEACHERS, MOVIE STARS, EDUCATORS. YES LOOK TO THE STARS, THE PLEAIDES WE ARE HERE, WAKE UP AND AWAIT THE FUTURE. BLACK STAR LINER!

[SPQR1775]

12:19 PM on 08/25/2009

In a world of false pretense this much is true, Michael Jackson, there will never be another, because he will be remembered for yeons, he has taken his place among the heavens, if you lok closely you shall see his STAR in the pledian system, look closely now. He was black, he was white, he was asian, latino, teno, he was a blank canvas where everyone could paint their wishes upon that star. Yes, we do understand why he bleach his skin, because to live in the America today and yesterday, you have to be like a caterpila or camelian, be able to change to your surroundin­g, yes we all understand­. If you pealback the mask, you will see underneath was a black man, a kind and gentle soul. YES WE CAN! He did not live a mortal life very long, but as we all know sometimes the good die young, or is it the immortals die young! I too shall be remembered for yeons one day, for today I see and tomorrow I will "BE THE CHANGE!"

[Killashandra]

05:59 AM on 08/23/2009

To the blogger below me, the party is free, you idiot!

[Killashandra]

04:30 AM on 08/23/2009

Thankyou Mr Lee. Observing from England, the inevitable sensationa­list emphasis of the media, it's great that someone as respected as Spike Lee is putting his name to an aspect of Michael Jackson's legacy that is being forgotten. Yes, he was using at the end of his life, yes his appearance had become strange, but this must be put in context. Michael endured unspeakabl­e heartbreak and suffering from being falsely accused and it clearly devastated him. This peerless, legendary, artist and humanitari­an changed the face of modern music presentati­on, brought through some of the most incredible melodies and lyrics known, and danced like a living dream. He gave everything he had to his art and always supported his community. To hear O'Reilly, King and others say he's no represento­r of Black people is a huge demonstrat­ion of their ignorance of vitiligo. So what if he had surgery, Michael looked beautiful for a long time. It is time to give this rare, pure soul the respect and love he deserves. His life was painful from start to finish, yet his output remains outstandin­g. His greatest desire was to ' bind his soul to his work '- to be immortal. Michael, you did it and you did it better than anyone. I will be playing Mj's music on the 29th, loud and proud and I will be one of
millions. Michael is the legend of all legends - and no amount of hate can ever take that away.

[jetscan]

05:19 PM on 08/23/2009

Thank you for your wonderful comment. I play Michael's music everyday, in fact right now.

[Ecoutez]

05:25 PM on 08/23/2009

Killashand­ra....you have captured the total essence of what I feel in my heart about Michael J. Thank you....and yes....no amount of hate can ever take away his greatness, genius and giving spirit.

[LMPE]

08:28 PM on 08/22/2009

Why should Spike Lee care about Michael Jackson? Spike Lee has made a career out of showing the black experience in the US. MJ never had such an experience because his parents pushed him to be famous, and then he bleached his skin!

[Chicago48]

01:03 PM on 08/23/2009

Spike directed one of Michael's videos; maybe that's why? You think?

[ItHadToBeSaid]

01:15 PM on 08/23/2009

"Why should Spike Lee care about Michael Jackson?"

--Friends usually do. Humanitari­ans do as well. Any other bright questions?­?

" . . . MJ never had such [Black] experience . . . he bleached his skin!"

--You referenced that issue in another thread and continue to do so here as if you have some point to make. MAKE IT. Come out and say whatever it is you are so c.0w@rdly trying to allude to. Or is it that you KNOW you have no point??

In case you hadn't noticed, Michael's fans span the globe and are privy to his before and after pictures, a few of his personal issues, and his life story. So you see, not only do we know, but to some extent, we can even understand . . . and we accept and appreciate Michael for who and what he was. If you don't, skip on over to thread where you andyour !d!otic, r@ceba!tin­g posts will be appreciate­d.

[Ecoutez]

05:40 PM on 08/23/2009

Thanks....­some folks think we should not love Michael because "he bleached his skin"...th­ey don't understand "Black Love"...Fr­ankly we don't give a d.....n whether he did or didn't...W­hat we do know is that he was a beautiful human-bein­g; multi-tale­nted and loved around the entire world. Bleach or no bleach...i­t can't stop our love.

[justice11]

10:30 AM on 08/22/2009

Birthday bash? How about burying the poor guy first!

[Solja]

06:13 PM on 08/23/2009

His family is burying him on Sept. 3rd. It's not up to his friends to bury him. Spike Lee has nothing to do with that.