Port Authority Merges Art with Abandoned Storefronts

Has the Port Authority Bus Terminal transformed into the city's art epicenter overnight? Last Friday a group of 30 artists created the “Art Authority of New York” for a juried exhibition presented by the Fashion Center Business Improvement District. Why?: "Gallery 8 is a pop-up art gallery that occupies a 2,500-square-foot space in the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and will be free and open to the public each day from 11:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the end of the Arts Festival on October 17."

As the NY Times noted, the artists are also bringing empty storefronts to life — something that's been happening in other boroughs as well. They explain these particular spaces were "donated or leased by building owners unable to rent or develop them." Starving artists are making out well during this recession with prime real estate! The benefit for developers? "The artist gets a gallery or studio, and the landlord gets a vibrant attraction that may deter crime and draw the next wave of paying tenants."