LES arts collective ABC No Rio breaks ground on new building in triumphant return to original home
Photo by Eden Janine and Jim via Flickr
A decade ago, New York City’s creative community expressed alarm, tempered by a bit of hope, at the news that ABC No Rio, the iconic downtown DIY punk rock venue and arts/cultural space that had been a fixture on the Lower East Side’s street scene since 1980, would be moving. What has been a 10-year journey has achieved a promising new milestone as construction began on a new space at 156 Rivington Street this summer. As Hyperallergic reports, the collective’s new home, set to open in 2026, will mean a triumphant full-circle return to the group’s original “art squat” address on Rivington Street after a long and arduous wait and many setbacks along the way.
The cooperative moved into the LES tenement from a dilapidated Delancey Street building in 1980, becoming a fixture on the neighborhood scene with its artfully-constructed entrance and inclusive, all-ages hardcore shows. After emerging from a drawn-out, sometimes violent, eviction battle, the scrappy non-profit purchased the building for $1 in 2006, with the premise that they would be responsible for its renovation.
As 6sqft reported, the organization was dealt the first of many blows when the forces of gentrification sent renovation costs out of reach. The building was demolished in 2016, with plans for a newly constructed building with passive house design slated to replace it. In the years that followed, efforts to reclaim the space were thwarted by a relentless rise in construction costs.
This summer saw the ground-breaking ceremony for the organization’s new four-story social center and performance, art and activism space at the old address. Designed by Paul Castrucci Architects, the building’s two-stage construction will feature lower-floor galleries and exhibition spaces, studios, staff offices and arts facilities, a kitchen, a free computer lab, a zine library and a rooftop garden.
The City of New York has made the new space possible, contributing $21 million for development of the project via the mayor’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the borough president’s office, and City Council members. Additional funds were raised by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and groups like New York State Council of the Arts, with $1.7 million raised by the organization itself.
The non-profit’s director, Steve Englander, told Hyperallergic that he does not expect costs to derail the project’s timeline this time. The ABC No Rio website reads: “Same location. Same ABC No Rio. We’ll have everything we had before, and more,” offering an invitation to a new era of creative contributions.
“The history of No Rio has been one generation handing the project to the next,” ABC No Rio board co-chair Eric Goldhagen said in a statement to the New York Times. “We’ll call the rebuilding a success when a new generation of artists and activists have made the space their own.”
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