Manhattan · NYC landmark
Young Men’s Institute and Giorno Poetry Systems
222 Bowery · Manhattan, New York City
A YMCA building became a home for artists, writers and experimental poetry.
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NYFE Summary
The YMCA offered classes and exercise rooms here before leaving in 1932. Artists later used the large rooms as studios. Mark Rothko worked on the Seagram murals in the former gym, and William S. Burroughs made a former locker room his home.
John Giorno moved into the building in 1966 and made it a base for poetry, recordings and performances. Giorno Poetry Systems now preserves this work here. Burroughs’s bedroom remains among the rooms connected with the building’s later artistic life.
NYFE summary from the official history and visitor sources linked below.
Plan a visit
Check the operator’s current opening, admission and access information before travelling. Historic status does not guarantee public access to every interior.
Official visitor information ↗