A two-alarm fire broke out in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighbourhood on Wednesday evening (22 January), impacting The Journal Gallery and Asya Geisberg Gallery, both ground-floor spaces at 45 White Street. Damages to each property are still being assessed.
According to the safety-alert app Citizen, the fire seems to have originated in the basement of a nearby seven-story building. In a comment to Artnet News, The Journal Gallery's co-owner Michael Nevin cited “significant damage” to the space from firefighters working to contain the fire, although, according to Nevin, the flames did not reach the gallery itself.
The Journal Gallery opened a solo show of work by the painter Ben Wolf Noam last week; another exhibition at the gallery’s Los Angeles location has been delayed due to the wildfires currently overtaking the city. So far, The Journal’s West Hollywood location has not yet been harmed. “We’re lucky at a time when homes have been destroyed,” Nevin told Artnet News, “but this is difficult timing.” Nevin first learned of the fire the morning of 23 January after receiving phone messages from acquaintances.
A New York City Fire Department report obtained by Hyperallergic reveals that the fire took four hours to extinguish and that two firefighters sustained minor injuries during the response. As of this writing, the fire’s cause is unknown. In a comment to the outlet, Nevin said that he could not yet ascertain when the gallery will be open again but said: “We look forward to being back in the space.”
Asya Geisberg Gallery has not made a public comment about the fire, but work in the space’s current show, Banshees, appears to be unharmed.