One of the first things you’ll see at No Longer Empty’s exhibition at the Old Bronx Borough Courthouse is a sign advertising office space for rent. Living in New York, rental signs are a dime a dozen, but knowing No Longer Empty’s mission—to curate art exhibitions and events in underutilized buildings as a means of reviving them—the sign seemed odd. With the site planned for office space, we find ourselves figuring out how to deal with a relatively new trend in real-estate development: art exhibitions are now used as a placeholder for spaces whose commercial future has already been largely decided.
