For nearly 70 years, a public building at Allen & Delancey has sat empty.
We want to change that.
We’re working to transform this long-abandoned space into the Lower East Side Cultural Center—a permanent home for art, culture, education, youth programming, community events, green space, and, yes, public bathrooms.
The idea is simple: take a space that has been sitting unused for generations and give it back to the people who live here.
A place where artists can make and show work. Where kids can learn, create, and play. Where neighbors can gather. Where community organizations can build something meaningful together. A place that reflects the bold, creative spirit that has always made the Lower East Side so special.
This is a huge undertaking, but we believe it’s possible- and we’re building it with the community, one relationship, one idea, and one step at a time.
Learn more about the Lower East Side Cultural Center: LESCC WEBSITE
Help us bring it back to life: DONATE HERE
Because public spaces should belong to the public. Help us build a lasting community resource.
As the founder of The Free Store Project, I’ve spent years thinking about how public space can support care, creativity, and community. I’ve recently been learning the history of this shuttered comfort station on Delancey Street (on the Allen Mall) and exploring what it could become if restored as a community-centered cultural space- a Cultural Center to be exact. This is early, exploratory, and very much a listening phase, but it feels important to ask how cultural education, storytelling, and access to creative space can remain rooted in this neighborhood.
When I say ‘Cultural Center,’ I’m thinking about a vibrant, thriving, affordable space for workshops, visual arts, textiles, events, small performances, and especially storytelling as a way to hold onto neighborhood history & lived experience as the area around it continues to change.
If you have thoughts, memories, or ideas about this Lower East Side site, I’m listening.
Our proposed Lower East Side Cultural Center (LESCC) will transform a currently underutilized Parks Department facility into a vibrant, community-centered hub for arts, culture, education & intergenerational connection.
Our mission is to preserve the neighborhood’s cultural heritage while providing accessible, year-round programming that supports local artists, families, youth, and elders. LESCC will serve as a welcoming public anchor where residents can gather, create, learn & celebrate the diverse cultural traditions that define the LES
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