WESTBETH SUFFERS MAJOR DAMAGE FROM HURRICANE SANDY. ALL EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES CANCELLED.

On Tuesday, Westbeth Artists Housing lost all of is electrical power and water. The basement of the block long building flooded with 9′ of water. All electrical equipment, boilers, electronics, pumps have been knocked out of service, and the extent of the damage is still unknown as there is, as of Thursday morning, still about 5′ of water in the basement.

Apartments, hallways, stairways, performance spaces are in total darkness. The residents are helping each other out, tenants checking on their neighbors, assisting senior residents who cannot climb down so many stairs in buying and delivering food, and maintenance and security personnel are delivering drinking water and sanitary water from cans filled with pumped water from basements across the street.
Management is hoping to start pumping water out soon, and they expect to deliver a generator so that we can charge phones.

Even if power is restored to the rest of the city, however, the probable severe damage to Westbeth’s electrical and heating system may delay restoration of power to Westbeth for perhaps weeks or longer.

The Jean Promutico Gallery Show, the Raytones performance, The Westbeth Flea Market have been cancelled.

For information about activities at other organizations located at Westbeth such as Martha Graham Dance, Brecht Forum, New School for Drama, etc, please check their websites.

In addition to the building equipment, some artists lost a lifetime of work in their basement studios, musicians lost equipment and instruments in their basement studios. Work by some artists no longer with us were archived in the basement.

For the most part, the artists here are resilient, and we hope to be back at work soon. But for now, it is difficult.

For further updates, check with Westbeth Facebook page, and follow on Twitter.