Eighteen years ago, the people of ABC No Rio bought their building from the city for a dollar. A decade later, it was demolished. Now, finally, the famed Lower East Side anarcho-cultural center is breaking ground on a new building — at its original address.
“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?” said Eric Goldhagen, the co-chair of ABC No Rio’s board.
The collective-turned-nonprofit will now begin an 18-month effort to build an energy-efficient “passive house” at the 156 Rivington Street site. Since the original building’s demolition in 2016, ABC No Rio has been “in exile,” hosting programs at different cultural centers across the city.
