HDFCs in the Lower East Side
Revealing the hidden-in-plain-sight world of storefronts in HDFCs
Housing Development Fund Corporation Cooperatives (*HDFCs) are a unique type of affordable housing that is collectively owned and operated by residents. They provide stable homes where people can truly put down roots – without the constant fear of rent hikes or eviction. But in addition to being an important source of affordable housing, HDFCs with storefront spaces often rent them to small businesses, artists, and non-profits. In turn, these places serve local needs, nurture creativity, and express culture.
You will find many examples of these affordable housing coops all over the Lower East Side – if you know where to look. But this prevalence of HDFCs didn’t just happen by accident or magic. People organized over decades to protect their homes and community spaces.
As residents, small businesses, and artists are all under threat of displacement from intense real estate pressure, we’re showcasing the vibrant places HDFCs hold in their storefronts. And inviting you to get involved to protect and expand space for homes, community, and culture.
Featured Storefronts
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191 East 3rd St. 347-304-1922 @3rdandbzaar 3rdandbzaar.com
67 East 4th St. #2 (212)-673-1021 the4thstreetphotogallery.com
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136 Loisaida Ave Store A (212)-677-8112 anckitchenny.com
220 East 10th St @archiespress archiespress.com 4
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13 Stanton St. @bungee.space 3ssstudios.com
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66 Loisaida Ave (212)-473-1882 @casaadelarestaurant 102 Avenue B (646)-478-7465 @clovehairsalon clovehairsalon.com
32 East 2nd St. (312)-351-3232 @ergotrecords
188 East 3rd St. (914)-535-6034 @fontanezmartialartsnyc fontanezmartialarts.com
292 East 3rd St. #1A (212)–674–1631 @green.map greenmap.org
191 East 3rd St. 212-677-0380 @janes_exchange janesexchange.com
37 Avenue B (212)-529-8197 lespeoples.org
169 Loisaida Ave 212-982-8021 13
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367 East 10th St. @morusnyc morusnyc.org
77 East 4th St. (212)-674-1557
367 East 10th St. @piraguaartspace dasoentertainment.com/piragua 16
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Storefront East 367 East 10th St. relativeartsnyc.com @relativeartsnyc
75 Loisaida Ave (917)-937-6256 @elrinconles 18
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27 East 3rd St. @lasirena_nyc lasirena_nyc.org
“My whole life is on Avenue B. For us it’s like, the more the merrier. We’re getting something out of it by being a community. The store is just what’s going on inside my head. It’s just what we like. It’s not trying to be something.”
SHISHI
The 4th Street Photo Gallery, established in 1973, is one of New York City’s only ground-floor alternative exhibitions spaces for both emerging and professional photographers. In addition to exhibiting work, the gallery provides portfolio reviews, professional consultation and an environment where artists can meet and share ideas. Through the efforts of director Alex Harsley, the gallery maintains an accessible visual arts oasis in one of Manhattan’s more ethnically and socially diverse neighborhoods.
“Our shop is very ‘for the people.’ The shop is only 180 square feet with no storage, like many other storefronts. It’s tight! Somehow I also squeezed in a letterpress, so when we’re not open it’s a fully functional print shop. … We have a really close relationship [with the building]. Many of the co-op shareholders were there when the building was purchased from the city and renovated. They are extremely proud of the building and take very good care of it.”
“New York is more chaotic, more diverse. Everyone is hanging out. We need space to bring people together from different backgrounds, incomes, jobs. See people in person, chat, hug, play games together. At Bungee Space, people come in for a coffee and start touching something they might never read in their life.”
A&C Kitchen owner Wai Li and his wife still live above the restaurant, where they’ve been for over 30 years. She loves flowers, so every year, he plants flowers in the small plot in front of the store. A loyal customer gave him some paper flowers as a gift for making the neighborhood nicer in this way, and his next-door neighbor decided to plant flowers like he did in the neighboring plot. His wife makes the lanterns you see in the windows of the Placeholders exhibit window by hand.
WAI LI
BUNGEE SPACE
A&C KITCHEN
WAI LI
3RD AND B’ZAAR
“The scope of our restaurant is not just for profit. It’s a labor of love. This space was available when my mother [Adela Fargas] started and the style that she projected is the same style that we carry on today. Which is basically simple food at a simple price. That doesn’t mean you’re going to make lots of money, but it means that you’re doing something that you enjoy.”
“I go back in this neighborhood to 2008. In January of 2020, my former boss decided to end her lease here. The opportunity came up that I could come in, and I took it. I had some time to think about it. And when I gave my answer, it was the beginning of March of 2020. And then two weeks later, everything went nuts. That was a very interesting time. But I feel connected with my clients and connected with the neighborhood. It’s really become my home.”
“The goal of this space was to represent different kinds of music and make connections. A confluence of different impulses, backgrounds. Which is how we got hip hop, salsa, lots of cool stuff, graffiti. Record stores have always been meeting places for people. They provoke dialogue more than other types of stores.”
“People don’t come here for martial arts – they come here to better themselves. We teach the Black Belt in Life Curriculum which has helped thousands of students.”
“I like maps because I get lost easily. I focus on my neighborhood because I don’t like to go far. It helps me feel grounded. There’s a spirit of mutual aid that’s so strong here.”
LUIS
GIOVANNA
JERRY “FAST FEET”
WENDY
CASA ADELA
CLOVE HAIR SALON
ERGOT RECORDS
ADRIAN
FONTANEZ MARTIAL ARTS
GREEN MAP
“I say that the store is like my sibling ... I was raised in this store, but it was my mom’s other child, and she was always a single parent. I was just in here with her. She was working constantly – and I was just a part of that. This was like our home for sure. It still feels like it is my second home.”
Lower East Side neighborhood activists organized the Credit Union in 1986 to fill the void left by the closing of the last bank branch in the neighborhood. We are owned by our members and dedicated to providing high-quality financial services and community development investments in low-income, immigrant, and other underserved communities. LESPFCU’s fees and requirements are more accessible to low and moderate income people in the Lower East Side than those of commercial banks, check cashers or pawn shops.
“Yo creo que mejor que esta área uno no va a encontrar. La renta de nosotros se puede pagar. Pero tú te vas ahora a otro sitio, es demasiado. … Yo tengo a mi hermana, vivimos en el mismo piso. Que mucha gente se va para su país. Yo aquí metido, aquí yo vivo. Aquí está mi familia.”
The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) was founded in 2012 by members of Times Up! environmental organization and based in C-Squat. As a living history of urban activism, MoRUS chronicles the LES community’s history of grassroots action. It celebrates the local activists who transformed abandoned spaces and vacant lots into vibrant community spaces and gardens.
“Of course everyone remembers their wedding garment for such an important day. But I also remember these clothes and my customers who wear them, because I use my own hands to sew details or make adjustments.”
JANE’S EXCHANGE
PICCOLA STRADA
MICHELLE’S CLEANERS
MICHELLE
“You meet so many great people. You see the kids growing. You get to meet the entire family. You feel part of the neighborhood. You feel like you’re part of their family. And they know you. That’s the only reason why I’m here today. Because of everybody in the neighborhood. I felt like we were needed in the neighborhood. I don’t see this like a business. I spend most of my time here. It’s my second home.”
“I was raised here in the ‘70s when pretty much every other building was abandoned. A lot of these artists overcame what they saw visually, which was devastation, and were able to create something beautiful despite what their current situation was. … A lot of the work that I do comes out of Loisaida legacy, CHARAS legacy, Nuyorican legacy. So we always want to honor those that came before us that used art as a way to engage community.”
“This neighborhood has a strong legacy of community organizing and eviction resistance. We are a part of this legacy now. We are on Lenape land, and we are also in Loisaida. There’s a huge legacy of revolutionary art in this community.”
“When I rented the space at first, it wasn’t much. White walls, wood floors. I call it my ‘evolving assemblage.’ It’s a collaboration with the artists and artisans in Mexico. I send them pictures sometimes. ‘See, your stuff is in New York City.’”
Learn
more about the stories of these storefronts, get help finding vacant space, and get involved in current campaigns for affordable homes and community spaces.
EL RINCONCITO
MEXICAN FOLK ART
PIRAGUA ART SPACE RELATIVE ARTS
LA SIRENA
DASO LIANA
Current
Vacancies
298 East 3rd St.
71 Avenue C
304 East 8th St.
406-408 East 10th St.
167 Avenue C
195 Avenue C
For local artists, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs looking for commercial space, Cooper Square Committee offers free commercial lease assistance and other support.
Get involved in current campaigns to hold place!
CHARAS/El Bohio Community Center
605 East 9th St.
This former activist cultural center is in the early planning stages of being redeveloped for community use after decades of organizing.
NYPD Parking Lot
324 East 5th St.
As a result of years of organizing, a request for proposals will soon be issued for developers to build 100% affordable housing.
NYCHA Parking Lot
638-644 East 6th St.
528 East 11th St. Visit the installation at 165 & 169 Avenue C, up until the end of June.
Hundreds of people have signed the petition urging this site be used to develop permanently affordable housing and a community land trust. Cooper Square Committee co-created Placeholders with Scott Kelly and Delphine Le Goff as part of Design Sprints: Building Creative Capacity, an initiative of Van Alen Institute and the NYC Department of Small Business Services. Special thanks to the board and shareholders of the 165-167-169 Avenue C HDFC.
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AVENUE C AVENUE C