C-Squat
Encyclopedia
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
located at 155 Avenue C in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in an area called Loisaida
Loisaida
Loisaida is a term derived from the Latino pronunciation of "Lower East Side", a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The term was originally coined by poet/activist Bittman "Bimbo" Rivas in his 1974 poem "Loisaida"...
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History
Journalist and author Robert NeuwirthRobert Neuwirth
Robert Neuwirth is an American journalist and author. He wrote Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World, a book describing his experiences living in squatter communities in Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul and Mumbai. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, The Nation, and...
described the situation that gave birth to many of New York's squats, including C Squat, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, "In the 1970s, scores of landlords walked away from old tenement buildings. Many buildings slid into vacancy and rot. By the 1980s, squatters took over many of the structures in fringe areas such as Alphabet City
Alphabet City, Manhattan
Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the Lower East Side and East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is also known as Loisaida, a Spanglish adaptation of 'Lower East Side'. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter...
(Avenues A to D) in the Lower East Side and in certain areas of the Bronx and Brooklyn. They had to fight to stay. The city dispossessed hundreds of squatters, sometimes mounting massive paramilitary attacks on their buildings. In the end, 12 squatter buildings survived, and they outlasted official resistance."
In 2002, the government of New York City granted ownership of 11 squats on the Lower East Side, including C Squat, to the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), a private not-for-profit organization. The twelfth squat mentioned above elected not to participate in the UHAB process, and its residents are suing for ownership under adverse possession
Adverse possession
Adverse possession is a process by which premises can change ownership. It is a common law concept concerning the title to real property . By adverse possession, title to another's real property can be acquired without compensation, by holding the property in a manner that conflicts with the true...
.
UHAB is in the process of securing loans to help repair the remaining eleven Lower East Side buildings, after which ownership will be turned over to the occupants. Accordingly, C Squat is no longer technically a "squat," but rather a legally occupied building, bought by the squatters in a deal brokered with the city council by the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board in 2002 for one dollar. It is a punk house
Punk house
A punk house is a dwelling occupied by members of the punk subculture. Punk houses are similar to the hippie crash pads of the 1960s and the slan shacks of science fiction fandom. The Factory, an alternative living space founded by Andy Warhol as the home base of The Velvet Underground, is directly...
.
Activities
The building had a half-pipe for skatersSkateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
in the basement and used to regularly host punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
shows, but these are now on hiatus due to construction.
Members of the bands Leftöver Crack
Leftöver Crack
Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of the ska punk band Choking Victim. Primarily playing an amalgam of ska and hardcore punk, they classify themselves as "crack-rocksteady". The band is currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords for CD releases, and...
, Morning Glory, Casa de Chihuahua, Star Fucking Hipsters
Star Fucking Hipsters
Star Fucking Hipsters is a punk rock band from New York City who have released albums on Fat Wreck Chords and Alternative Tentacles records. They have been called a "punk supergroup" and feature members from numerous notable bands including Leftöver Crack, Ensign, and The Ergs!-Initial formation...
, d60, Planned Collapse, Banji and Dog That Bites Everyone live there. In the past, it has been home to members of the bands INDK, Choking Victim
Choking Victim
Choking Victim was a United States punk rock band formed in New York City, which were together from 1992 to 1999. Playing a mix of hardcore punk and ska with anarchist lyrics...
, No Commercial Value, Old Skull
Old Skull
Old Skull were an American punk rock novelty band formed in the late 1980s in Madison, Wisconsin. The band was started by ten-year-old J.P. Toulon and his nine-year-old brother, Jamie Toulon, with encouragement from their father Vern Toulon, a longtime member of the Madison punk scene who had...
, Eden and John's East River String Band
Eden and John's East River String Band
Eden and John's East River String Band are a New York City based duo who play country blues from the 1920s and 1930s. Members are John Heneghan and Eden Brower...
, and Nausea
Nausea (band)
Nausea was an American crust punk band from New York City in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, active from 1985-1992. Nausea is usually cited as being integral in the rise of American crust punk, a fusion of anarcho-punk and thrash metal styles....
, among others.
The building has also hosted a number of artists and activists throughout its history, as Neuwirth discovered when he wrote his article, Squatter's Rites for City Limits Magazine, "To climb the steps in C Squat is to walk up a living graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
artwork. The halls resemble subway cars a few decades ago. But instead of monikers, these tags are battle cries for revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
, outlaw logos, complaints and humorous takes on official slogans..."
Restoration
When it was first squatted, the building was falling apart and central joists had to be replaced. These were sourced second-hand and as cheaply as possible. All repairs on the gutted structure were performed by the squatters themselves, transforming the space as they worked on it. The DIY rehabilitation of the building was no small task, as Neuwirth noted in his article, "At C Squat, the beams were so rotted that the building had sunk almost a foot in the center. The squatters replaced the joists one by one. They got their replacement beams from workers at a nearby gut rehab. The workers saved the old but still usable joists they were removing and passed them on to the squatters."Under the terms of the homesteading agreement made in 2002, the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board will provide a loan for essential renovations (bringing the building up to city code regulations), which the squatters will perform as much as possible themselves to reduce costs. When the work is finished, the residents will own the building as a limited equity housing cooperative
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
. They will be financially responsible for maintenance and UHAB loan repayment.
Further reading
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See also
- ABC No RioABC No RioABC No Rio is a social center located at 156 Rivington Street on New York City's Lower East Side that was founded in 1980. It features a gallery space, a zine library, a darkroom, a silkscreening studio, and public computer lab...
- Dos BlockosDos BlockosDos Blockos was a squat situated on East 9th Street in Manhattan, New York City. In active use as a squat from 1992–1999, the six-story building housed as many as 60 people at its peak...
- Lower East SideLower East SideThe Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
- SquattingSquattingSquatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
- Urban DecayUrban decayUrban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
External links
- ABC No Rio
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