Punk center gets renovation grant

After struggling to find the money for renovations, Lower East Side community and cultural center ABC No Rio received a $1.65 million allocation for a new building at the site of its current space last week. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer arranged for a $750,000 grant for the center, and City Council member Alan Gerson is providing $450,000 from his discretionary budget, which the City Council matched. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development turned the 156 Rivington Street building over to the arts collective for $1 and an agreement that the group would renovate the space. But the cost of repairs rose from the original projection of $700,000 to $2.4 million for a new building. The Department of Cultural Affairs will oversee the use of the new grant money.