Well... the building was just shut down. 3rd Ward sent a letter to everyone saying that things would be fine, made no comment about the risk of closing, and encouraged us to pay rent to the Realty MGMT company. I've paid rent this month. As of today, I'm homeless. Not to mention my last month and security that 3rdWard still has. Thanks for the heads up 3rdWard!

Typical whiny hipsters on here. Squat and try and get around laws that are ultimately in place to protect human lives, and then whine like little biotches when the party is over. What have you brought to Brooklyn or the South Bronc besides bedbugs and little squealy whines?

can you read? no one was squatting - 3rd ward is a business, & the people living in the other buildings pay rent. unless you've radically redefined squatting to suit your half-assed agenda, this doesn't qualify.

besides, haven't the bedbugs all moved on to upscale clothing stores?

Fly under the radar and do what you want. Land in the NYT and you'd better get legit quick.

yes, i wonder why these people are so willing to open their doors to the NYT knowing full well that it's going to result in a visit from some form of unwelcome authorities

with Rubulad it was an outside group that brought in the reporters, but 3rd ward should have been a little more careful

I hope this doesn't harm 3rd Ward in the long run. It's a really great place, the classes are cheap, and they put on some fun events occasionally.

I think you all need to stop and look at the big pictures:

Third Ward is a business that makes money. They make money off of some very rich kids who want to play artist, they make money off of kids who are artists. But regardless, they make money.

If their building isn't up to code, it's a money issue. They, or their landlords, should fix it and have chosen NOT to fix it up to this point because of money. Same thing with people who use former artists lofts as fancy apartments, the landlords are making money with an understanding of what's going on, the landlords should fix it.

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I just wonder how this will affect the Hasidic portion of Williamsburg, with the illegal apartment divisions and etc.

Moving into one of these non-code compliant buildings is something you go into knowing what you are doing. The point is that you get a lot of raw space for cheap and you know that its not the nicest or safest place but its a risk you are willing to take.

Artists need access to affordable space in this city. Forcing people to move to more expensive spaces will stifle creativity.

Does anyone think that Warhol's factory was up to code?

My experience is that "lofts" are prohibitively expensive nowadays, as every design conscious rich person wants to get in and make their mark. Any live/work space quickly becomes live only, or "live and I make paintings on every other Sunday in my breakfast nook".

The new pattern I see is unwealthy artists being forced to rent spaces in work-only buildings, and then living in shitty, crowded apartments outside of the hipster districts. Or just renting a shitty apartment and working without a studio at all.

Creativity, in short, is stifled by monied people wanting to pretend they are creative.

your experience is probably more expansive than mine. i moved to nyc in 99' and have lived the past 4 years in morgan town in an illegal loft-live-work space with 3 other roommates. we all use the space for work. we moved there so that we could have space to work. my roommates film a web series out of our loft. we knew the day we moved in that any day we could be asked to leave. just wanted to add a little clarity. im certain that a very small portion of these folks are rich entitled little shits. seriously a very very small portion. the rest are all working artist. i know 80% percent of the occupants of my building and a fair number are older, in their 50's artist.

You're probably a bit more in the know than me, I've never even heard of Morgan Town. What the heck is that?

and

I disagree on the rich folks living in lofts thing. I've watched Williasmburg, DUMBO and Greenpoint all become residential areas for rich folks. I've watched buildings I've occupied become full of stylish people who buy expensive furniture, then I was kicked out of the same building. All of the artists I know who retain studios in the hip areas are wealthy or incredibly lucky. It's not happening in Bushwick as fast as everywhere else...

You have 3 roommates, I'd ask you this: Would it be cheaper for two of you to move out and get a three bedroom apartment somewhere, reserving the 3rd bedroom as a workspace? Most of the folks I know who are living in "live work" spaces pay more than they would for better stuff elsewhere.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Hasidic portion of Williamsburg was instrumental in these loft raids. It is likely their constituents own these buildings and want to evict their tenants so they can remodel and charge more rent.

Also, 3rd ward is a non-profit.

if these "collectives" were populated by muslim community groups or some ethnic minority other than smug white hipsters then there would be no cries of injustice in the correct citing of these places for very legit violations

perhaps if they had no been so lazy, arrogant, and self-righteous as to flaunt building codes, ignore safety, and put lives in danger then there would be no reason for "the man" to get involved.

if they are truly a "community" maybe they can get together and fix their dumpy deathtrap of a building instead of whining about how they are being persecuted

idiots

It's the landlords responsibility to keep these buildings up to code not the tenants.  If the fire escape was crumbling on my apartment building I wouldn't be lazy, arrogant, or self-righteous for not fixing it myself.

how are lives being put in danger because a fire escape is missing a stair? it's not hard to step over one. more lives are being put in danger because these people are being thrown out into the street with nowhere to go - some of whom have lived in these buildings for years. it's not like the city is going to hand everyone a nice fat check & say "go move into the condo on the corner." does this city need more homeless people?

sure. but 'lazy, arrogant, and self-righteous smug white hipsters' who 'put lives in danger,'seems to be a stretch at best. how do you account for neighborhoods like soho and dumbo that were illegal loft conversions? seems to me to be the standard wave of diverse, poor, gentrifying working artist that are displaced. for what end i dunno. maybe they need protection from themselves.

ew.

These buildings are fire hazards and these squatters put our firefighter's lives at risk. Evict them all.

you are an idiot. i know people who lived/worked in all three of these buildings & they pay ridiculous sums in rent to live in the city just like you. the only time firefighters' lives are at risk because of these buildings is when some misguided loser sets one on fire out of a misplaced sense of superiority.

also, it's no coincidence at least with regard to the "illegal club" that the New York Times paid them a visit first - they sent a reporter to the Clinton Hill building to document a Sunday night dinner gathering they have a couple times a month and lo & behold, two days later they're being thrown out of the building. tips to anyone doing anything at all unusual, ever--DO NOT TALK TO THE NEW YORK TIMES YOU WILL BE SHUT DOWN. i had a bad feeling about the guy as soon as he started asking questions.

had nothing to do with the new york times... the last three or four times there was a party at this joint some anoynomous person called it in to the FDNY for overcrowding... After their july fourth party the fdny said enough is enough... place is a dump and a waste of time and resources.