Getting There
Driving - The courtyard entrance of 155 Bank Street is on the north side of Bank Street between West and Washington Streets. There is some on-street parking but you have to be in the right place at the right time. The nearest parking garage is Apple Parking at 332 W. 11th street (one block south of Bank Street), between Greenwich and Washington Streets. The Westbeth Community Room is at the far end of the Bank Street courtyard.
Subway - Take the E, C or A to 8th Avenue and 14th street. Its about a 10 minute walk to Westbeth. Walk south on 8th avenue to Abingdon Square. Take a right on Bank Street, walk west on Bank Street towards the river. Cross Washington Street. The entrance to the Westbeth Courtyard is at 155 Bank Street, on the right, towards the end of the block. The Community Room is at the far end of the courtyard. Note: at this time, the L train is not running on the weekends. It's been replaced with shuttle buses.
About Westbeth
Westbeth Community Room is a communal space for all to use, including Westbeth residents, our neighbors, and the extended community. We give priority to artists seeking to use the space for artistic presentations or rehearsals. It is equipped with a kitchen, audio visual equipment, and can host up to 74 people.
Westbeth provides affordable live-work space for nearly 400 artists and their families at the historic site of the former Bell Laboratories campus in the West Village. Westbeth opened in 1970 as an early example of large-scale adaptive reuse of an industrial building and comprises an entire New York City block facing the Hudson River. Now a storied arts institution, in its time as Bell Labs, the campus was the site of invention for many of the 20th century’s most significant technological contributions. These inventions include chain broadcasting, the vacuum tube, and the transatlantic telephone. Its scientific significance, as well as the prominent artists it has housed, have contributed to the recognition of Westbeth’s legacy. Westbeth was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009 and was named an official New York City Landmark in 2011.
One of world’s largest artists’ housing facilities in the world, Westbeth was home to the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for over 40 years. It now houses the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, The New School for Drama graduate program, the School for Poetic Computation and other arts nonprofits. An active tenants association is responsible for arts programming and enrichment within the community.