Bullet Space, at 292 E 3rd St. NY, is in a narrow five-story building originally constructed in 1920 and used as a tenement during that period. It eventually became decrepit and was taken over by the city after the owner failed to pay taxes. It was occupied as an artists’ squat starting in 1985 and fixed up by the squatters over time. The city negotiated with several of the area squats to create permanent affordable housing, and in 2009 it deeded this building to the squatters, turning it into limited-equity co-ops. The ground floor is an open space gallery, and the upper floors each have two small apartments.
I saw the space during NY’s Open House weekend, and met four of the artists who had lived in the building for 25 years. They are very proud of their art and how they have constructed the space around it, and how they negotiated with the city to end up owning the building.