ABC No Rio

ABC No Rio is a collectively-run nonprofit arts organization located on New York City's Lower East Side in Manhattan. Founded in 1980 in a squat at 156 Rivington Street, it emerged from the eviction of the 1979-80 Real Estate Show, an activist art exhibition organized by the artists' group Colab. For more than four decades, ABC No Rio has functioned as a vital alternative space, offering an art gallery, zine library, darkroom, silkscreening studio, and public computer lab, while also serving as a hub for radical projects including weekly hardcore punk matinees and the New York City Food Not Bombs collective. The organization was directed by Steven Englander from 1998 until his death in 2024. After vacating its original building in 2016 for demolition, ABC No Rio broke ground on a new four-story art center at the same Rivington Street location in July 2024, with projected completion in January 2026.

ABC No Rio's origins lie in the severe urban crisis of Manhattan's Lower East Side during the late 1960s through the 1970s, when massive disinvestment by absentee landlords left up to 80 percent of the area's housing stock abandoned and in rem, seized by the city government for non-payment of taxes. This environment fostered both a squatter movement and a visible downtown arts scene within a largely Puerto Rican community facing gentrification pressures.

The immediate catalyst was The Real Estate Show, organized by Colab (Collaborative Projects), which opened on January 1, 1980, in an occupied abandoned building at 123 Delancey Street. The exhibition explicitly sought to demonstrate solidarity with working people and critique city land use policies that kept buildings vacant until developer investment returned. It was shut down by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development before the morning of January 2. Subsequent negotiations granted the organizers use of 156 Rivington Street, a building whose ownership had fallen to the city due to unpaid taxes. The name ABC No Rio derived from the remaining letters of a partially burnt-out neon sign reading "Abogado Con Notario" (Spanish for "lawyer and notary public").

Conceived as an "art-making center" and community-oriented alternative to a hierarchical art world, ABC No Rio initially occupied only the ground floor while upper floors served as living space. Around 1990, a generational shift in administration occurred. The punk and hardcore music programming, initiated in December 1989 at the initiative of Mike Bromberg, former singer of the band SFA, became particularly prominent after CBGB discontinued its hardcore matinees.

Legal complexities marked the 1990s and 2000s. In 1994, the city attempted to terminate the lease to sell the building. After an unsuccessful eviction attempt, associates occupied the upper floors, preventing removal while negotiations continued. In 1997, the city agreed to sell the building to ABC No Rio for one dollar, provided the organization could raise renovation funds and the squatters vacated. The squatters left after three years, and their former apartments were converted to program spaces. The city altered renovation requirements several times until 2004, when an agreement allowed phased renovation. The sale was completed on June 29, 2006.

Fundraising for a new building proceeded through donations and art auctions featuring donated works by artists including Claes Oldenburg and Yoko Ono, plus a 1999 benefit compilation with contributions from Boy Sets Fire, I Hate Myself, and Saetia. By early 2017, the collective had raised approximately 80 percent of projected costs, including 1.5 million dollars from private donations and organizational funds and 4.8 million dollars from the city of New York and other municipal sources. Demolition of the original structure began in March 2017, and in July 2024, the city sold the vacant original lot to the collective with promised financial support for construction.

ABC No Rio does not function as a traditional collecting institution with permanent art holdings in the conventional museum sense. Rather, its cultural production resides in its programmatic activities and the ephemeral nature of its exhibitions, performances, and publications. The organization has maintained a silkscreening studio, a zine library, a photo darkroom, a public computer lab, and spaces for art exhibitions, music, performance, and educational activities. Its mode of operation has been described as a "collective of collectives," with individual projects enjoying substantial autonomy in day-to-day affairs while building-wide matters are addressed at collective meetings. During the period when the Rivington Street building was closed for reconstruction, ABC No Rio collaborated with other groups such as the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, and programming continued at alternative venues.

Given its nature as a collectively-run arts organization rather than a museum with a permanent collection, ABC No Rio's "holdings" are best understood as its sustained programs and the cultural artifacts they have generated. The zine library represents a significant accumulation of independent and small-press publications. The silkscreening studio and photo darkroom have supported generations of artists. In music, the Saturday afternoon punk and hardcore matinees constitute one of the longest-running such programs in the country, with the live album Live at ABC No Rio by Saetia achieving particular recognition. The organization has also hosted theatrical performances, including works by Rainer Werner Fassbinder in the 1980s.

The original ABC No Rio building at 156 Rivington Street was a former squat in a heavily deteriorated structure on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The building's facade featured the partially legible neon sign that gave the organization its name. After the city sale in 2006, the collective determined that renovation was impractical given the building's condition, and planning began for a complete replacement. The new building, designed by architect Paul Castrucci, is a four-story art center constructed to meet the rigorous passive house standard for energy efficiency, significantly exceeding state energy code requirements. Castrucci projected in 2016 that it would become "one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the city." The new facility is designed to house the silkscreen studio, zine library, art exhibitions, music shows, photo darkroom, small press library, computer center, expanded space for performance and educational activities, and meeting and office space for ABC No Rio and other organizations. Demolition of the original structure and adjacent buildings began in 2016-2017, with the final shows at the old building held in summer 2016. Groundbreaking for the new construction occurred on July 16, 2024, with projected completion in January 2026.

ABC No Rio is located at 156 Rivington Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The organization is collectively run as a nonprofit and owned by the collective following its 2006 purchase from the city for one dollar. From 1998 until his death in 2024, the organization was directed by Steven Englander, who was its only full-time employee on an annual budget of approximately 80,000 dollars.

The original building was vacated in July 2016, with programs dispersed to alternative locations during the interim: the zine library relocated to the Clemente Soto Vélez Community Center, and punk gigs moved to Brooklyn. During this transitional period, ABC No Rio collaborated with other organizations and maintained activities through off-site programming. In April 2025, Allied Productions, Inc. co-presented with ABC No Rio an exhibition titled ABC No Rio 45 Years at the Emily Harvey Foundation in New York City, marking the organization's continued cultural presence during construction. Upon completion of the new building, projected for early 2026, the organization will resume operations at its historic Rivington Street address with expanded facilities for its diverse programs.