Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space

{{Infobox museum

| name = Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space

| logo = Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space Logo.jpg

| image = Outdoor Performance.jpg

| caption = A French marching band in front of MoRUS

| map_type = Lower Manhattan

| former_name =

| established = {{Startdate|2012}}

| location = 155 Avenue C, Manhattan, New York 10009

| coordinates = {{Coord|40|43|32.78|N|73|58|40.68|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| type =

| website = {{URL|morusnyc.org}}

}}

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) is a not-for profit museum founded by the Times Up! Environmental Organization in 2012. It is dedicated to archiving the history of community gardens, squatting, and grassroots environmental activism of the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Located in the storefront of C-Squat at 155 Avenue C, the museum documents how neighborhood residents transformed abandoned spaces and lots in the neighborhood into squats and gardens. By preserving the neighborhood's history, the museum aims to educate communities and individuals to keep this form of sustainable, community-based activism alive.{{cite journal|last1=McArdle|first1=Andrea|date=2015|title=Re-integrating Community Space: The Legal and Social Meanings of Reclaiming Abandoned Space in New York's Lower East Side|url=http://academicworks.cuny.edu/cl_pubs/70|journal=Savannah Law Review|volume=2|issue=1|pages=247–264|via=CUNY Academic Works}}{{rp|247–264}}

Background

During the 1970s recession, New York City cut back social services in many neighborhoods, which particularly affected the Lower East Side. Many landlords vacated their buildings, despite people still living in them, which lead to a large-scale diaspora from the neighborhood. The neighborhood was home to many artists, musicians, and activists. Residents actively resisted disinvestment on the part of the city and landlords, and instead of moving out, reclaimed these spaces. They repaired abandoned buildings, transforming them into communal living spaces such as homesteads, squats, and community centers.{{rp|249–253}} In these spaces the new residents held collective meetings, skill-shares, and workdays to manage these spaces, while vacant lots were transformed into community gardens that served as gathering places.{{cite magazine|last=Luna|first=Cari|date=2014|title=Squatters of the Lower East Side|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/04/squatters-of-the-lower-east-side/|magazine=Jacobin|access-date=January 25, 2019}}

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space was founded by Bill Di Paola and Laurie Mittelmann to preserve the history of New York City's Lower East Side and promote the local communities that came together in order to make the neighborhood a cultural icon on New York City.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

Museum

The museum is located in the storefront of C-Squat, one of the few still-occupied squats on the Lower East Side.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/nyregion/east-village-museum-shares-a-piece-of-activist-history.html|title=East Village Museum Shares a Piece of Activist History|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|date=March 4, 2012|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 26, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} The museum is "decidedly local", run by local volunteers, and presents the neighborhood's history through a combination of exhibitions, walking tours, and events.{{cite magazine|last=Steinhauer|first=Jillian|date=2013|title=Building a Museum of Activism|url=https://hyperallergic.com/79087/building-a-museum-of-activism/|magazine=Hyperallergic|access-date=January 25, 2019}} Permanent exhibitions explore various themes aspects of the neighborhood's radical history, including sustainability, activist spaces, and the Occupy Wall Street movement. Rotating exhibitions have covered 1980s political street posters and stencils and the community garden movement; a current exhibition documents the punk movement and its politics. The educational walking tours lead participants through neighborhood squats and community gardens, describing complex histories and struggles with developers and police over the control of urban space in the East Village.{{Cite web|url=http://localeastvillage.com/2012/03/07/31421/|title=Sitting Down to Talk Squatting With Homesteading Museum Founders|last=Malsin|first=Jared|website=The Local|language=en-US|access-date=January 26, 2019}} The tour guides are neighborhood activists and historians. The museum claims that these activities and exhibitions "seeks to connect the neighborhood's history of activism with the principle of sustainability".{{rp|263}} In 2020, the museum self-published a book, History of the East Village & Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, which catalogs the history of MoRUS and that of the East Village.{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/museumofreclaimedurbanspace/docs/morus_layout_for_issuu_2|title=History of the East Village & Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space|last=Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space|website=Issuu|language=en-US|access-date=June 4, 2021}}

File:Enjoying an event.jpg|An event in the Museum's lobby.

File:Archiving Room Staff.jpg|Volunteers work to preserve and protect the history of their neighborhood through archival work.

References

External links

{{Official|http://www.morusnyc.org/ }}
[https://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2014/01/new-museum-showcases-recent-history-on-the-lower-east-side/ 2014 MetroFocus feature on the museum]

Category:Museums in Manhattan

Category:Squatting in New York City

Category:2012 establishments in New York City

Category:Museums established in 2012

Category:Alphabet City, Manhattan

Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space

Background

Museum

Further reading

References

External links