Sunshine Hotel exterior on the Bowery with a vintage car and street scene

Bowery Lives Matter

The Bowery is still home.

Three residents remain at Sunshine. Seven current and former residents of 125 Bowery, formerly known as the Providence, need support too. These are places where people have made lives in small rooms along a changing street.

As winter approaches, residents need practical support to remain safe, warm, and housed. Donations cover food, drinking water, clothing, laundry, hygiene supplies, clean bedding, pest treatment, safe repairs, and a housing attorney who knows SRO cases.

Empty cubicle room inside a Bowery SRO

Rooms are not abstractions.

They are doors, belongings, routines, and the possibility of staying.

Winter support is urgent.

The people represented here are not an abstract housing statistic. They are residents with rooms, belongings, routines, and lives rooted in the Bowery. If you can contribute, your donation will help provide direct support during the coldest months.

Exposed electrical wiring inside the Sunshine Hotel
The Machinery of Destruction (1954-1985)

This fund supports ten people: three at Sunshine and seven current and former residents of 125 Bowery, formerly known as the Providence. Anna is the organizer and posts updates on what the money paid for. Receipts, not faces. Residents stay anonymous. 125 Bowery tenants were covered by Hell Gate. This site distinguishes firsthand accounts, public records, and allegations. Claims without a confirmed source are not presented as established fact.

Housing history

The policy disaster that broke NYC housing.

A six-part history of SRO housing, public policy, and the loss of low-cost rooms.

Read the full article

01

Policy choices

Rules helped shrink the SRO stock.

02

Stereotypes

A caricature hid who depended on rooming houses.

03

Tax incentives

Public incentives accelerated conversions.

04

Shelter costs

Temporary shelter can cost more than housing assistance.

05

Unregulated housing

The need for inexpensive rooms did not disappear.

06

George’s story

One resident’s life shows what was lost.