New York Theatre Workshop

Update on Renovation Plans: NYTW's New Scenic and Costume Shop

In October 2005, New York Theatre Workshop purchased the vacant building at 72 East 4th Street, a former New York City storage facility, “as is,” from New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development for the price of one dollar. This extraordinary deal was the culmination of five years of community organizing with neighboring arts groups, meetings with New York City officials, gaining the valuable support of Council Member Margarita Lopez, and tireless legal support from Meredith Kane and Charles Harary of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. The sale was made as part of the creation of the Fourth Arts Block (FAB) Cultural District, which included the sale of six such buildings to arts organizations.

Subsequently, the Mayor and City Council awarded a total of $2.5 million in capital funds to NYTW for the renovation of this building, to be administered by the Department of Cultural Affairs in conjunction with the Department of Design and Construction. NYTW is continuing to work with Mitchell Kurtz Architect PC, the firm that designed and carried out the renovation of NYTW’s current buildings at 79 and 83 East 4th Street, to transform the space at 72 East 4th Street into a new scenery, costume, and prop workshop. Construction is scheduled to begin in the winter 2008 and be completed in 2009. The facility will be designed and built using sustainable design principles and widely accepted LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) standards, optimizing comfort and health benefits to its employees. Manufactured materials with recycled content will be used, and wood produced from sustainably harvested forests will be used exclusively.

We are deeply grateful to an anonymous donor for a $1 million pledge towards this campaign.

New York Theatre Workshop thanks New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin, Council Member Rosie Mendez, and Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, as well as the many individual supporters who answered our call with an additional contribution towards the Building Fund.

For further information regarding this project please contact Barrack Evans, NYTW’s General Manager, at barracke@nytw.org.

72 East 4th Street. It sits as an empty garage before aquired by NYTW.

Rendering of 72 East 4th Street after completion.

November 20, 2008 Demolition begins

November 20, 2008 Demolition begins

January 15, 2009 Demolition almost finished. When digging to clear room for the basement, they randomly found a tank in the ground, which they didn’t know was there. Luckily it was halfway filled with water and not oil. The soil around it was checked and it was not contaminated. It halted work on the project because a special contractor had to come in to remove it.