ABC No Rio, the legendary Lower East Side not-for-profit arts space that was home to many punk matinees over the course of nearly 40 years, closed its doors at 156 Rivington St in 2016, and the building was demolished. Not due to Big Real Estate, though. ABC No Rio owned the building and envisioned a new, greener building in its place. They got approval from the Department of Buildings for the new space in 2018 and finally broke ground at a ceremony earlier in July featuring Hungry March Band.
“If you had told us that this group of anarchist artists was going to raise this amount of money and make this happen, and somehow the city kept its word and transferred ownership of the building to us, and then the city comes in and gives us all the money we actually need to finish the project — who would’ve thought that would happen?,” ABC No Rio co-chair Eric Goldhagen told The City.
The new building is projected to be finished and open by January 2026. Plans are for it to include a darkroom, a screen printing facility, a small press library, and to double the size of the gallery / performance space.
As for the new “passive house,” energy efficient aspects to the building, ABC No Rio says: “The new building will be in line with our environmental politics, utilizing sustainable design principles: energy and water efficiency and conservation; use of local and recycled materials; use of less toxic (low VOC) materials; recycling of materials from our demolition; creation of a green roof; and use of both active and passive solar technologies. Our commitment to building in this way emerges from ABC No Rio’s mission and purpose.”
You can donate to ABC No Rio’s building fund, see the plans and read more about the new building here.
