 Furious that his idea had been stolen, Vitale threatened legal action and quickly scrambled to get a copyright on the story.The result was "96 Greenwich Street", a one-act play which was first staged at The Village Gate in New York City as part of a festival of short plays.Vitale received a positive response, expanded it to a 2-act play in 1993 and turned it into a screenplay for a film in 1994.