Until the shooting of one of its founders this week by a
stalker, not many New Yorkers knew anything about a commune
operating on Staten Island since 1979. Ganas was founded
originally by a group of six and grew to its current membership
of more than 90 individuals ranging in age between 25 and 70. One
of the original founders, Jeff Gross, was shot Monday night,
allegedly by a former member, Rebekah Johnson, who had been
kicked out of the commune years ago. He is in critical but stable
condition, and other members of the group fear that they will
also become targets of a woman Mr. Gross had once described to
police as "crazy but not dangerously so." He was wrong.
But before this incident, the only thing most Islanders knew
about the Ganas commune was that they ran the Everything Goes
retail stores on the North Shore. These are unique used
merchandise stores run by members of the group, who live in 10
houses owned by Ganas in the New Brighton section of Staten
Island.
The commune connection was not readily known to the general
public until many years after the businesses started. I had no
idea that the thrift shop I had been shopping in for months was
run by such a group - not that it would have made any difference,
but it would explain why any minor sales transaction required so
much paper work. Each purchase, no matter how minute, took
several minutes to complete as the sales person noted each item's
consignment number by hand in duplicate.
The thrift shop at 120 Bay St. sold used books, gifts, and just
about everything under the sun. Eventually, a vintage clothing
boutique opened on 140 Bay St., as did an Art Gallery on 123
Victory Blvd. Ganas also has a large used furniture store on 17
Brook St. that would periodically give away extra furniture to
make room for new arrivals. The stores are valuable for
struggling families, providing good, slightly used merchandise at
bargain prices. Nearly every room in my house contained, at one
time or another, a piece of Everything Goes furniture.
Now with this shooting, there will be much speculation about the
inside world known as Ganas. Is it a community akin to an Israeli
kibbutz, or is it closer to those of the 1960s? Is it a cult or
just a nonprofit run by New Agers? From my own personal
experience with its retail end, none of the above seems to
describe it. The sales personnel are all personable, helpful and
come in all ages and ethnic groups. Newspaper photographs of Jeff
Gross seem familiar and I do recall seeing him before. It could
have been at the Brook Street store or it might have been at the
Staten Island Waterfront Festival, which he started in 2002 to
kick off the revitalization of St. George.
Reports say that Ms. Johnson was kicked out of the commune in
1989.She was invited back in 1996 and was again asked to leave.
She sued Ganas, Jeff Gross, and several other members. In her
suit, she alleged sexual harassment, humiliation, and assault,
but she dropped it two years later. The rumor mongering has
already begun, and I've heard remarks speculating that sinister
events at the commune may have led to the shooting. I find that
very hard to believe.
The Ganasians, as they are known, are quiet, nonviolent people
who have simply made an unusual lifestyle choice. From the
various ads I've seen posted by the group onwww.craigslist.org,
Ganas offers individuals housing and a stipend in exchange for
working at one of the retail stores. Some residents in the Ganas
homes have outside jobs and pay for their room and board.
According to the group's Web site,www.ganas.org, there are only a
few rules:
1) Non-violence to people or things; 2) No free rides (everybody
is required to work productively or pay their expenses); 3) No
illegality (including illegal drugs); 4) A new rule requires that
people bring their complaints about the community or people in it
to the group, where the problems can be discussed and resolved
with the people involved.
People breaking one of these rules will be asked to leave.
That all seems very reasonable, but inviting the entire world
into your home is also a bit idealistic. Reality has a nasty
habit of intruding on idealism because not all human beings are
kindly, nonviolent, or sane. Sadly, members of the once peaceful
community are now nervously looking over their shoulder for the
former resident, who at this writing is still at large, armed and
dangerous.