East Village Art Space at 33 East 1st Street Close to Completion

A formerly rat-infested lot at 33 East 1^st Street in the East Village is set to become a Guggenheim-sponsored art installation for ten weeks, according to reports. As of July 12^th, the structure is in place on the formerly abandoned East Village lot.

The temporary installation, which will include an open-air café, is set to open on August 3^rd, and it will remain open for ten weeks before touring Europe and Asia. The ten-week installation will feature lectures and workshops.

The installation comes after residents in the East Village neighborhood complained about the lot at 33 East 1^st Street, which had remained vacant for some time and became notorious in the neighborhood as a haven for rats. The lot at 33 East 1^st Street is technically owned by the City Parks Department, but the city has been slow to act on doing anything with the space.

While the exhibit at 33 East 1^st Street is temporary, East Village residents have taken steps to permanently turn the lot into a non-profit community space. While that process would likely take several years-their current proposal for a sculpture garden and a community center would likely cost several million dollars-the Parks Department has been receptive to the residents’ proposal, and they have begun renovating a strip of parkland that connects to the lot.