Following the success of the Knitting Factory, Michael Dorf has his sights on a new downtown dream

When a 23-year-old Michael Dorf arrived in New York City in 1986, he dreamed about opening up a coffee house that also served up musical performances. Drawing on his entrepreneurial spirit -- along with his bar mitzvah savings -- Dorf opened up the Knitting Factory on Houston Street, which quickly exploded into one of the city's premier venues for jazz and rock. Shortly after, Dorf created the Knitting Factory's own record label, which proved an overnight success.

After 16 years as CEO of the Knitting Factory, Dorf stepped down from his post two years ago to do "something more meaningful" for his downtown community after 9/11, he says. Since then, he's been busy working to realize another downtown dream -- the establishment of a concert hall and performing arts center called the Art Exchange. The name has double meaning, reflecting both the center's proximity to the financial markets and its intended mission, to facilitate the exchange of art and culture.

Dorf estimates that the new venue -- planned for the grandiose space at 48 Wall Street -- will bring 50,000 people per month to an area that now shuts its doors after dark. Featuring such headliners as Lou Reed, Norah Jones, Cassandra Wilson, and Moby, the Art Exchange will help play a vital role in the renewal of Lower Manhattan by turning it into a cultural destination. "What a chance for a cultural renaissance downtown," he says of the plan.  

Dorf envisions the space as a hybrid venue capable of drawing older adults and young fans alike. The structural plans -- which meet the requirements for the landmarked building -- call for a three-tiered, 30,000-square-foot facility with seating for 1,500. His vision also includes a 1,000-square-foot stage and flexible space for the audience that could accommodate tables, theater seats, or standing room, as well as private balcony boxes that could be sponsored by corporations.

The venue -- dubbed as "a hip downtown Carnegie Hall with a great wine list" -- will be open 365 days a year and available for private parties. Another benefit of the Art Exchange, Dorf says, will be that concert-goers can watch performances while drinking wine in a glass, not a plastic cup.  

"Everyday I do something to get this off the ground," Dorf says.  So far, he has raised $6 million through public grants, donations, and sponsorships. He has $2 million still to go, but he's confident that the remaining funds will be raised soon and hopes to make an official announcement about the center's launch in the next few months.

In addition to finding the necessary financial backing, Dorf has also garnered positive feedback from city officials and community members for his project.

"The Art Exchange represents a unique and   thoughtful combination of a commercial music venue and an arts and community center which would act as a catalyst for other commercial ventures in addition to other arts and cultural groups to set up shop in Lower Manhattan," Carl Weisbrod, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, wrote in a letter praising Dorf's venture.

"The Art Exchange will make a significant contribution to the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan by bringing an important new cultural facility to our community," said Julie Menin, president and founder of Wall Street Rising."It will be a boon to nearby restaurants and businesses and will provide sophisticated, lively entertainment for the existing and new residents."

Over the years, Dorf has infused his entrepreneurial spirit -- combined with his interests in music, education, Judaism, and his community -- into several other projects. For instance, when he moved the Knitting Factory from the East Village to his own neighborhood of Tribeca in late 1994, he was determined to keep the area clean. Teaming up with Henry Buhl, a downtown art patron and philanthropist, he co-founded the Tribeca Partnership in 1997 to aid in this goal.

Last year, Dorf formed Downtown Arts Development, Inc., a non-profit organization focused on the development of festivals, musical presentations, and educational activities. One such program he produced was the New York Jewish Music and Heritage Festival. As part of a nationwide celebration of 350 years of Jewish life in America, the festival commemorated the arrival of the first Jewish settlers, who landed in Lower Manhattan on September 12, 1654, after being expelled from Brazil.

Around the same time last fall, Dorf and his wife, Sarah Connors, parents to twin boys and a girl, joined seven other families to open Tribeca Hebrew, an after-school Jewish education program for the neighborhood's children. The school, located at the corner of Jay and Hudson Streets, began with an enrollment of 50 students, from kindergarten through fourth grade, most of whom attend P.S. 234 earlier in the day. Dorf, who serves as the school's chairman, expects enrollment to double by next year.

The school's name encapsulates the guiding principle upon which it was founded: to help children connect with their Jewish heritage and with their neighborhood. "We want kids to have a positive Jewish identity, and an identity that connects to a core part of who they are -- they live in Tribeca and they are Jewish," Dorf says. "We wanted our kids to feel proud of two aspects of their identity." The school, he says, is not affiliated with any particular Jewish movement or synagogue, but rather "an organic manifestation" of the local community.

Dorf also serves as the treasurer for Music For Youth Foundation, a nonprofit initiative to make quality music education available to young people and to create scholarship opportunities for exceptionally talented youth who choose to make music their life's work.

To further highlight the cultural connection between the arts and Jewish tradition, Dorf has hosted the "Downtown Seder" for the past five years. The annual event brings together a variety of artists and luminaries to participate in a live Passover seder. This year, more than 500 people gathered for the seder at the future site of the Art Exchange. Dorf's successful record of bringing people together to celebrate arts and culture suggests that 48 Wall Street will soon reverberate with such excitement year-round.

*Photo by David Bias

Related Links
Tribeca Hebrew Makes Jewish Learning Fun
The Fabric of Downtown Music: The Knitting Factory