56 newyork| february17–march1, 2020
ou can see thetelephonenumber
plastered acrossthesideofthehandsome
old brick buildingat 728 East 136th
StreetasyouwalkfromtheCypress
Avenue 6-train stop.It mightaswellbe
a blinkingneonsignheraldingthe
changes taking place in PortMorris,theBronx,
which is becoming the latest postindustrialrefuge
for people who need studiospace.Whenthe
Altmark Group purchasedthebuildingin1994,
it housed light manufacturing,andinpart, it still
does. (Its M1-2 zoning doesn’tpermitresidential
use.) But two decades later,moreandmoreartists
began looking to the neighborhood.Whena
moving-and-storage companyoccupyingtheentire
fif th floor left for New Jersey,“wehadthisbigblock
of space available. It was like15,000squarefeet,”
says Barry Altmark, who handlesleasingforhis
family concern. “And we weren’t reallysurewhat
to do with it.” That was threeyearsago,whenartist
and School of Visual Arts facultymember
Judy Mannarino was lookingfornewstudiospace.
She found the building whilewalkingthrough
theneighborhoodand
rented4,000squarefeet,
whichturnedouttobemore
thansheneeded,soshe
broughtinfellowartist
andSVAcolleague
SteveDeFrank.Together,
theybroke it upintofour
separatestudios,sharing
oneandsublettingthe
otherthree.Gradually, word
spreadaboutthebuilding.Today, thereareabout
50 artists,furniture-makers,ceramicists,and
architects—alongwith NYSluggersBaseball
Academy—inthebuilding.We visited 13 ofthem,
mostofwhomhadcome frommorecramped
spacesinotherparts of town.“Iwasn’t surewhat
toexpect. TheBronx was anXfactorinmy mind,”
saysartistDerekFordjour.“WhenI arrived,
I quicklyunderstood why somany artists
hadmovedbeforeme. It feelslike Bushwickor
Williamsburginthe’90s.”Y
design hunting- LeRone Wilson
Sculptor and painter
RENTS: 1,700 sq. ft.
MOVED IN: October 2019.
PREVIOUSLY: On 131st Street,
between Park and Madison.
HOW YOU GOT HERE: Found
it online, but it turned out
he had friends there already.
WHAT YOU LIKE: “It’s right
off the Bruckner, which
means accessing it from
downtown is easy.” - Lena Carroll
Painter and freelance
retail-display coordinator
RENTS: 187 sq. ft.
MOVED IN: October 2019.
“I built out the walls myself.”
PREVIOUSLY: “In a corner in
my midtown apartment.”
HOW YOU GOT HERE:
“I learned about the building
when I visited Andrew
[Daines]. It was a big
dusty rectangle at that point,
but I caught the vision
pretty quickly.”
WHAT YOU LIKE: “I love
that the South Bronx is just
far enough from home.
It takes me about 35 minutes
from midtown, so I can get
in the right frame of mind on
the train. The building is really
perfect for creatives because
it’s like a blank canvas—
people turn their corner into
what it needs to be.”
6. William Reardon
Ceramicist and founder
of New York Stoneware
RENTS: Two spaces: 850 sq. ft.
for pottery-making; 700 sq. ft.
for packing and inventory.
MOVED IN: Fall 2018.
PREVIOUSLY: In Brooklyn.
HOW YOU GOT HERE:
Heard about it from a fellow
ceramicist in the building.
WHAT YOU LIKE:
“The proximity to where
I live and the license
agreement the building uses.
It gives me the flexibility
to increase or decrease the
amount of space I rent from
them, because I’m not locked
into a long-term lease. I also
like that the neighborhood
is not overdeveloped yet.
It makes it easy to get a lot
of work done.”
7. Andrew Daines
Founder of Chassie,
which makes desks imprinted
with original designs by
New York artists
RENTS: 2,650 sq. ft.
MOVED IN: July 2019.
PREVIOUSLY: Started Chassie
here, after selling his last
company to NASCAR.
HOW YOU GOT HERE: “A friend
of mine tipped me off to
M2 zoning, so I got a city
map out and Port Morris
was the closest to myplace.”
WHAT YOU LIKE: “The
building is perfectlysituated
for my life and business.
More than half oursupply
chain is within a couple
of miles. I also likethat the
neighbors are generally
friendly and interestedinone
another’s work. I hadan
office in Union Square,
and I felt like my neighbors
were always on theirphones.
Artists really interact.”
728 EAST 136TH STREET
The six story
former paper-clip factory
built in 1907.