The Nuyorican Poets Café, a space steeped in history and cultural significance, closed its doors this past fall after its 50th-anniversary celebration. The NYC Department of Design and Construction is now overseeing the project for the Department of Cultural Affairs that will not only renovate but also expand this iconic space, ensuring its legacy continues to thrive.
About the work being done:
This project will renovate and expand the Café, with a new main lobby and performance space on the first floor, an additional dedicated performance space on the fourth floor, and a “flex” space on the second floor, which can be used as a classroom or rehearsal space.
The project will also add a new elevator to the four-story building and office space for staff. These improvements will allow the organization to reach a wider audience by hosting multiple performances concurrently and providing local students with masterclasses and workshop opportunities.The project will also entail exterior work, including a new roof, extensive building envelope rehabilitation and waterproofing, a new ADA ramp for public access from the sidewalk level into the facility, new fire exit stairs as well as renovations to the plumbing, HVAC and electrical systems.
Here's a look at two renderings (Rice+Lipka Architects is designing the project)...
The expected completion date is spring 2026.
Puerto Rican writer and poet Miguel Algarín founded Nuyorican in 1973 as a living-room salon on Sixth Street along with Lucky CienFuegos, Bimbo Rivas, Pedro Pietri and Miguel Piñero. Algarín died in December 2020 at age 79.
The programming here has included poetry slams, open mics, Latin and contemporary jazz and hip-hop shows, theatrical performances, educational programs, and visual art exhibits.
4 comments:
Seems like they are doing some upgrading and I imagine it needs some investing, but how on earth does this building need $24mm of renovations?!
Agree about the 24m in renovations. That seems like an awful lot of money. You could by six wisteria townhouses for that! :)
How does the renovation cost $24 million? "The NYC Department of Design and Construction is now overseeing the project..." That's how. And as with any capital improvement/real estate deal count on a built in graft line item for the budget. The real mystery is the now shortened from 3 years to 2 years deadline for the project to be finished. There is never any building project in this city that ever finishes on time let alone on a shortened schedule. More like, add another 3 to 5 years to the propaganda about the finish date. The last time the building sat closed waiting for renovations it was 7 years. And that was just to do the ground floor, heat and electrical systems.
But get a look at what the director and staff are already doing, programming more events at partner organizations than usually gets done when they have the building to use. Praise and thanks to Caridad de la Luz and staff!
Happy they are doing it big yes seems v expensive!!!!
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