ABC No Rio buys its building!

The New York Times, July 4, 2006
For $1, a Collective Mixing Art and Radical Politics Turns Itself Into Its Own Landlord
By Colin Moynihan

[...] Standing on the north side of Rivington, between Suffolk and Clinton Streets, is one of the few buildings that have barely changed in two decades: a crumbling, four-story structure that at one time was inhabited by squatters and now houses ABC No Rio, a community and cultural center that seeks to explore the interaction of art and radical politics. [...] The transaction came after years of negotiations, and one of the conditions was that the nonprofit collective that runs the building had to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to begin renovations. [...] "ABC No Rio exists as a resource for people with a diverse set of politics and a very broad sense of what is art," Eric Goldhagen, a collective member, said. "They can exchange ideas in a nondogmatic atmosphere out of which dynamic and interesting projects tend to grow." [...] A sign near the front door of the pale brick building bears the motto "Culture of opposition since 1980." [Click-through for the full article...]