Next month – May 20th to be exact – Soho House will finally go before Community Board 3’s SLA Committee, asking it to support a full bar within 139 Ludlow St., the former funeral home destined to be the private members’ club’s new location on the Lower East Side. Having withdrawn from the agenda on two previous occasions, Soho House settled on a plan to establish a publicly accessible community space in the building. Over the weekend, we heard from club representatives, who are hoping to engage people from the neighborhood this coming Wednesday evening about potential uses for that public area.
Soho House has held a series of informal open houses inside 139 Ludlow, but Wednesday’s session will be a bit more specific, focused on the things people would like to see in a public facility (a library, an arts space, a venue for talks and performances are ideas that have been floated). The open house begins at 7:30 p.m., if you’re interested in attending.
On May 8, there will be another event at Soho House on the LES, a screening of some of legendary artist Taylor Mead’s 16mm films. The event is a collaboration with the Film-Makers’ Cooperative. MM Serra will introduce the films. A few weeks ago, Mead temporarily relocated from his Ludlow Street home to Colorado. The screening takes place at 7 p.m.
Soho House has received a mixed reaction on the Lower East Side so far. A neighborhood organization, LES Dwellers, has expressed many concerns about the club in a nightlife-centric swathe of the neighborhood. Others, including longtime Taylor Mead friend Clayton Patterson, have argued that the club should be given a chance, especially if it demonstrates support for the LES arts community.
