Tracking LES Gallery Migration

When the gentrification of Soho got to be too much for artists and their dealers — believe it or not, Gagosian used to occupy what is now a Puma store on Broadway near Spring Street — they migrated to Chelsea. At the time, the West 20s between 10th and 11th Avenues was a seedy wasteland. Now, look at it. New luxury condos are going up every week. Trendy restaurants anchor the corners (Trestle on Tenth, Cookshop, Mario Batali's Del Posto). Comme des Garçons and Balenciaga have shops on 22nd Street. And, most infamously, clubs like Bungalow 8 and Marquee bring partiers to the neighborhood after hours. At one point, a giant electric police billboard went up on 10th Avenue with the message that using a fake ID is illegal.

As the gentrification of Chelsea marches on, will the galleries leave this neighborhood, too? And where would they go if they did?

It looks like there may be a major art world migration to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, judging by the number of well-vetted galleries (and one museum) opening below Houston Street before the end of the year:

Luxe Gallery
Opens 9.6

Previously ensconced in a building on West 57th Street, the hub of the uptown art world, Stephan Stoyanov's gallery will relocate to 53 Stanton Street.

Salon 94 Freeman's
Opens 9.12

Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn will open an annex of her uptown salon in Freeman Alley off Rivington Street with a show by Huma Bhabha. The former stable was fashioned into a white cube by Rafael Viñoly, who also did her 94th Street townhouse.

Eleven Rivington
Opens 9.26

Two weeks after Salon 94 Freeman's comes to the LES, Greenberg Rohatyn's other gallery interest, Greenberg Van Doren, unveils an offshoot of its tony 5th Avenue and 57th Street space just across the street from Freeman Alley on Rivington Street. James Slade designed the 700-square-foot gallery, which will open with a group show.

New Museum of Contemporary Art
Opens 12.1

When the long-awaited new digs of the New Museum opens at 235 Bowery between Stanton and Rivington Streets at noon on December 1st, it'll stay open for 30 hours straight to commemorate the museum's 30th anniversary. The first exhibition to go up inside the Sejima + Nishizawa / SANAA-designed building is "Unmonumental," an installation of sculptures by 30 artists from around the world.

Lehmann Maupin
Opens by the end of 2007

The Chelsea gallery will expand into a 5,800-square-foot former headquarters for the East Side Glass Company at 201 Chrystie Street between Stanton and Rivington.