CoworkingNewYorkCity


 

Jelly at House 2.0. Image via Wired Magazine.

Depending on how you measure it, New York City may be home to more coworking spaces than anywhere else in the world. It was recorded as having over 100 spaces in it in 2014, with many more opening and expanding since then. 

  1. History
  2. Local Visa & Alliances
  3. Meetup groups
  4. Directories
  5. Press

History

In a city where space has always come at a premium, New Yorkers have for a long time been finding creative ways to share. In the 1990s, "plug & play" centers gave people a way to get together and share internet connections when connectivity was hard to come by. Early incarnations of the coworking model appeared in the 2000s, as shared workspaces of various kinds experimented with more open and social models.

In March of 2006, Amit Gupta introduced the idea of coworking to NYC. Every other Friday or so, you can meet some of the best and the brightest at Jelly. At the start of October 2006, Noel Hidalgo and Beka Economopoulos opened the first dedicated coworking space in New York, No-Space (formerly called The Change You Want To See). Priced out of Williamsburg, No-Space moved to Greenpoint in 2011, where as of 2018 it it continues to operate as the longest-running coworking space in the world.  

In 2007, Tony Bacigalupo visited Jelly for the first time, meeting Noel and Amit and others, and became enamored with the idea of coworking. He proceeded to get involved in not just Jelly, but another new initiative called Cooper Bricolage. Sanford Dickert, an active organizer in the NY technology scene at the time, found a restaurant called Cafe Fuego, whose owners were open to the idea of hosting workers during the daytime when business was slow. Having negotiated an arrangement with them, Sanford set out to find people to help lead the effort. Tony stepped into the role. 

In September 2007, Cooper Bricolage opened its doors to a grand reception. In the subsequent year and a half, the community would move from Cafe Fuego to Gramstand, which it would call home until it completed its transition to a full-time coworking space, called New York City, in November 2008.

Along the way, more new coworking communities were forming around the city, and existing workspace-sharing businesses were starting to take notice. 

Local Visa & Alliances

New York City does not have a formally organized regional coworking alliance. It is, however, home to a number of Meetup groups and software platforms that help people find spaces. After closing its doors in 2015, New Work City formed a loose alliance with like-minded spaces in New York. 

 

Tools like Deskpass exist giving members access to many coworking spaces throughout New York City

 

 

 

Meetup groups

New York City is home to the headquarters of Meetup.com and a wide variety of coworking-related Meetup groups.

Directories

With such a wide variety of communities in New York, there are unsurprisingly, many ways to connect with them.

Press

As a center of media, New York has been no stranger to press stories about coworking. Among them:

Coworking Spaces in New York

 

Locations Under Construction

Alternative Venues

Closed

Blog Roll

Older Pages

These pages are outdated, but you can still check them out if you're feeling sentimental :-)