Ninja's have no need to explain themselves. But as long as you insist, here goes. LoftNinja is a New York City real estate broker/artist in Brooklyn who works on behalf of those with no where to turn- those being evicted or forced out of their homes or studios due to development, outrageous rent increases or just plain greed. For a little over 5 years, he has worked almost exclusively with artists in North Brooklyn neighborhoods that are undergoing a process of rapid change and development- in a word, 'gentrification.' Because artists are the first to be displaced from the neighborhoods which they create, LoftNinja has made it his job to find new spaces for them to live and work (not always simultaneously), as many who are losing their home to luxury high rise developments have no idea as to how to tackle a real estate search in a market that moves 3 times faster than the consumer mind can comprehend. LoftNinja is the UN-realtor in every way. He was the first to ever use art as his advertising medium and method and was the very first in (at least) America to offer his listings via RSS feed and podcast (textcast) from a blog. He not only thinks outside the box, he thinks about the box from within the box- yet, he will not be boxed in. Many consider him to be "real estate agent 2.0" as he focuses more upon the needs of people rather than the greed and dishonest aspects of the industry that most other agents end up adopting. LoftNinja is more of an anthropologist than a realtor and because of this, when its all said and done, he is a starving artist himself. Perhaps this is why he is still able to understand the side of the renter with no place to go. Perhaps this is why he is a better artist than real estate agent. Perhaps not. In any case, his ARTvertisements have become famous enough for anyone who has ever searched for space on the internet or in the streets of North Brooklyn to recognize. His art embodies the dynamic changes in which he involves himself, while attempting to promote transparency within an industry that (at times) seems to thrive upon the opaque nature of information and the shortsightedness of those who need it-all while following the most basic rule of anthropology. "Minimize the effect that you have on your study, while observing as if you were the study itself. In the end, LoftNinja hates real estate because of what it does to people. Therefore, it is only appropriate that he make fun of it to the best of his ability- everyday, for as long as he can stand calling it his job. It is an art for one to be able to sidestep greed in order to help another- to act consistantly in such a way as one would want to be treated if roles were reversed. It is a moral decision to 'do' real estate and in the end, you are helping someone either find progress or demise within the sphere of possibilities which one can steer another. Noone likes to move, especially when it isn't their idea to do so. When all is said and done, LoftNinja is a joke...just like the current real estate market.
