City Seeks Bids For Inwood Immigrant Art Center

INWOOD, NY — The city is currently accepting bids in a search for a nonprofit partner to establish a research and performance arts center in Inwood that focuses on the immigrant experience in New York City, city officials announced this month.

The nonprofit with the winning big will be in charge of designing, constructing and operating the Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center, city officials said. The city is allocating $15 million toward the construction of the center as part of the Inwood rezoning plan passed by the City Council in August 2018.

"As the Inwood community continues to grow, we’re thrilled to support local organizations and artists that reflect the rich culture that defines this neighborhood," New York City Economic Development Corporation CEO James Patchett said in a statement.

The city EDC issued a request for bids for the center in early September and will accept submissions until Thursday, Dec. 19.

The new center will provide space for local artists and cultural groups to stage and rehearse performances, city officials said. The center will also include classrooms, storage space and administrative offices. Programs at the center will be organized by the New York Public Library to educate the public on the immigrant experience in New York City through the research of historical documents and provide access to the library's many research collections.

When the center is ultimately built, it will be included in the Department of Cultural Affairs' energy coalition, which means it will receive city funds to cover energy costs. This should allow the eventual operator of the center to dedicate more of its resources toward research and performing arts programs at the center, city officials said.

"This center will be the first of its kind in the nation to research and celebrate the contributions of all immigrants. I am confident that this center will shed light onto the abundance of culture and language that makes New York City one the greatest cities in the nation," local City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement.

The city's investment in the center is part of a larger package of investments negotiated for Inwood when the City Council passed a controversial rezoning plan for the neighborhood in 2018. Rodriguez supported the rezoning plan largely due to the size of the investment package, but a group of local residents has since sued the city to reverse the rezoning. The group, called Inwood Legal Action, claims that the city's environmental review process for the "major upzoning" failed to analyze several effects of the rezoning plan on neighborhood residents including the displacement of longtime renters.