Monday, March 5, 2012

C-Squat will be home to the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space

[Photo from Feb. 1 by Bobby Williams]

C-Squat at 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street will soon be home to the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space — aka, MoRUS. According to an article by Colin Moynihan in The New York Times today, the museum "was being established to, among other things, tell the story of how activists in the East Village took over abandoned properties and over the years transformed them into permanent housing or community gardens."

This is the idea of Laurie Mittelmann, a neighborhood activist, and Bill DiPaola, the executive director of Time's Up. Among the items to be on display: Past issues of The Shadow.

The Museum will pay $1,700 per month to rent the storefront here, per the article.

Here's a video about the museum...

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7 comments:

  1. glammaMarch 5, 2012 at 10:30 AM

    wow. this is amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LvVMarch 5, 2012 at 11:23 AM

    I'm with Glamma, that is amazing ... what a wonderful thing to dedicate a museum to in our neighborhood, and in the perfect space. I'll be there the day it opens.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marty WombacherMarch 5, 2012 at 11:27 AM

    Very cool! I'm looking forward to this opening! It sure beats a 7-Eleven!

    ReplyDelete
  4. DrBOPMarch 5, 2012 at 1:13 PM

    'Ya know, I was havin' a particularly rough Monday...too much to do with too many people countin' on me....winter refusin' to go away quickly...(yeah, I know, woe is me).....but then THIS pops up and makes me snmile even though I don't feel like it....then I watch the clip....and all of a sudden I'm doin' a bit of a jig in front of the screen....this is SUCH a wonderful idea....makes me want to move back RIGHT NOW and help out.....so all you folks still hangin' in the EV, let's get some material rockin' over to 'da house...spread the love!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AmyMarch 5, 2012 at 1:38 PM

    I know they really need financial support... You can donate here:

    http://www.crowdrise.com/helpusstartanewhisto

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMarch 6, 2012 at 4:19 AM

    There is a lot of potential here. The reclaiming and remaking of urban space does not have much resonance in NYC anymore, unless one counts condo towers and franchises. There is a lot of potential resonance elsewhere, though, across the zones of collapse in thousands of American cities. Just try spending the night in a public space or occupying an empty building ... the response will make 80s era standoffs in the East Village seem like playground confrontations (thanks to a decade of counter terrorism funding to police forces). So much for the American Republic. A bit of light from an old building on Avenue C is not a bad legacy ....

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousApril 6, 2012 at 7:31 PM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX522GUdTmw

    ReplyDelete

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