Proposal: A Brooklyn Journalist Coworking Space
(UPDATE: A more detailed survey to show interest is here.)
It’s not easy to be a freelance journalist in New York. You choose to go it alone. You decide to be your own agent, pitch editor, and boss. You also probably choose to hang out in your apartment for days at a time, escaping only for bagels as a reward for finished deadlines.
We want to make things a little better.
Freelancers deserve a supportive, fun work environment just as editorial staffers do. We are looking for journalists, non-fiction writers, and researchers who want to join in forming a coworking space in Brooklyn with 24/7 access, permanent desks, and a strong community.
We’re building an environment to fit our specific needs — phone interviews, story scouting, and productive conversations. Sure, you get an office outside of your apartment, but we want it to be a lot more than that, too.
Benefits.
We want to help each other grow. That means moral support in showing up and sitting at the keyboard as well as sharing contacts, information, and best practices. It’s an artists’ studio model for writers.
After we launch, we hope to provide further support to freelancers in the form of business development and accounting services. We’ll also host gatherings for fellow writers and editors. We’re devoted to showing that freelancing can be a long-term career choice in the era of online media.
The Space.
The office we’re looking at is a 1,000-square foot-plus, ground-floor corner loft space currently being gut-renovated (see an in-progress photo at top). The space is a 5-minute walk from the Morgan L stop in Bushwick and has a private bathroom and kitchen area.
By move-in the space will be gut-renovated with polished cement floors. It has two large walls of newly installed windows and an HVAC system.
(The end result will be similar to the photo to the left, from a finished unit in the same building.)
***We will open September 1.***
Writers can bring in desks and chairs or we can provide them. Everything else is up to our collective decorating skills and magazine collections. Though our first candidate space is in Bushwick, we will also expand to south Brooklyn if interest allows.
Who We Are (So Far).
Peter Moskowitz: Peter has written about cities, race, and gentrification for The Guardian, Al-Jazeera America, Slate, The New Republic, Gawker, Vice, and others. He is also writing a book about gentrification (and why it’s bad) for Nation Books/Perseus. (@ptrmsk.)
Alana Massey: Alana writes about culture, identity, and relationships at outlets like Matter, The Washington Post, Pacific Standard, Vice, and The New Republic. She is writing a book of essays called All The Lives I Want about our relationships with famous female strangers for Grand Central Publishing. (@alanamassey.)
Kyle Chayka: Kyle covers technology and culture for publications including The New Republic, Matter, and Rolling Stone. He is a columnist at Pacific Standard and Maxim. (@chaykak.)
Pricing.
Costs for space will range from $150 to $350 monthly, depending on individual size and time needs. We would like to sign up at least six committed members before signing a lease; we have four.
The price range will allow for flexibility in part- and full-time schedules as well as writers in various stages of their professional careers.
Interested?
***Email chaykak@gmail.com with the subject line: Coworking.***
If you aren’t ready to sign up just yet, join our email list here and fill out the brief survey to receive updates about the project.
