RIALTO CHATTER: 42nd Street's 'EKCO' Chamber

The New York Post has reported that Marc Ecko Enterprises is looking at a big time "Broadway" sized legal battle for walking away from its lease at the former Times Square Theater, where it suddenly dropped plans to open a spectacular, three-level flagship store.

It has been revealed that Ecko was paying rent on the 217 W. 42nd Street site for nearly five years, but never got past the planning stage.

The delay has left the theater's colonnaded facade covered with a 100-foot-long, plywood wall - an eyesore amid the Broadway theaters, live-music venues and other attractions on 42nd between 7th and 8th avenues.

The site's landlord, nonprofit group New 42nd Street, is "pursuing legal ends" against the sportswear giant, organization President Cora Cahan said.

The Post's Steve Cuozzo explains that the deal for an undisclosed rent was once hailed as the hottest thing on the street since the Ziegfeld Follies. To read his entire article on the pending legal battle click here.

Related to this develpoing story is a very lively and informed thread on our message boards that shed some light on the history of the Times Square Theater and what work would have to be done to restore it for today's audience. Read it here.

Marc Ecko began his artistic life as a graffiti artist in the New York area while still in college. Feeling limited by the medium, Ecko soon began to design handmade T-shirts. Soon after they became available, emerging cultural icons such as Spike Lee and Chuck D. began sporting Ecko's designs.

Marc Ecko Enterprises was founded in 1993 by Marc Ecko, Seth Gerszberg, and Marci Tapper. Evolving from just six t-shirts and a can of spray paint, Marc Ecko Enterprises has become a full-scale global fashion and lifestyle company that reported international retail sales of approximately $1 billion in 2004.