to WBAI, citing accounting irregularities and a failure by the station to meet its financial obligations. Layoff notices effective July 15 were subsequently issued to the station's staff and management. On August 9, 2013, Pacifica management announced that due to financial problems, WBAI was laying off about two-thirds of its staff, effective August 12, 2013. The entire news department was laid off. Summer Reese, the interim executive director of the Pacifica Foundation, which owns WBAI, said that after talks with SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents broadcasting talent, "we will be laying off virtually everyone whose voice you recognize on the air," effective Monday. She corrected that and announced the final number was 19 out of the station's 29 employees, about 66%. Andrew Phillips, the former general manager of another of Pacifica's five stations, KPFA in Berkeley, California, was appointed WBAI's interim program director. The New York Times reported that the station owed $2 million in broadcast fees to Democracy Now! alone, while cash on hand was just $23,000. In March 2014, there were assorted rumors that the station would be sold or leased or moved, in whole or in part (including their equipment and antenna at the Empire State Building), after contentions and firings both at WBAI and at Pacifica headquarters. On December 17, 2014, the California State Attorney General opened a full and formal investigation into the Pacifica Radio Foundation, owner of WBAI, with respect to its alleged irregularities as to its finances, violations of California law with respect to nonprofit organizations, and violations of its own bylaws. In 2015, WBAI moved to new studios and offices at 388 Atlantic Avenue in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn. On October 4, 2017, the court rejected WBAI's pleadings as ill-founded and granted the Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) a summary judgment, in the amount of $1.8m plus attorney's fees, for the monies due through the initial filing date of late 2016. ESRT was awarded with an additional $600k for the lease through the date of the court's ruling, with obligations of approximately $50k+ per month through lease expiration in 2020 also remaining in place. A further settlement was announced on April 6, 2018, releasing WBAI from the court judgment and its obligation to continuing leasing the Empire State tower into 2020. They began broadcasting from 4 Times Square on May 31, 2018. On Monday, October 7, 2019, the Pacifica Foundation