Your office away from home

Photographs by Beth Levendis

BROOKLYN
It seems appropriate that grassroots cubemates community Coworking Brooklyn has its headquarters at a Williamsburg art gallery, The Change You Want to See Gallery (84 Havemeyer St at Metropolitan Ave, Williamsburg; thechangeyouwanttosee.com). Writers, entrepreneurs, programmers, activists and self-employed workers can reserve a chair here for $200 a month; first-time drop-ins are welcome to check the vibe out gratis. Come early to meet your deadlines, stay late for the after-hours events put on by members.

Liena Zagare and her husband, Politico blogger Ben Smith, write the Ditmas Park Blog and are the founders of Ditmas Workspace (535 E 17th St at Ditmas Ave, Ditmas Park; ditmasworkspace.com; membership $150 per month). Churn out your own blog posts or graphic-design projects in quaint comfort inside this cozily lit Victorian house.

Erin Carney and Neil Carlson elected to launch the Brooklyn Creative League (540 President St between Third and Fourth Aves, Gowanus; 718-576-2104, brooklyncreativeleague.com) to counteract their own at-home-freelancer woes. The BCL, located on the top floor of an old sweater factory in Gowanus, officially opens Wednesday 15. Choose from a wide range of options—from a full-time private office at $1,500 a month to part-time work stations at $350 a month—for small-shop companies, writers, designers and nonprofits.

Beloved by inventive Brooklynites looking to take classes in everything from welding to digital design, 3rd Ward (195 Morgan Ave at Bogart St, Bushwick; 718-715-4961, 3rdward.com) also offers private desk space in a Freelancer Think Tank, starting at $299 a month, with customized access to classes, the photo studio and reception services.

MANHATTAN
Independent laborers of all sorts have been drawn to the casual coworking environment of Jelly NYC since 2006, when founders/roommates Amit Gupta and Luke Crawford informally invited their freelancer friends to toil while socializing in their living room. The location and date of this free meet-up varies (visit wiki.workatjelly.com for more information).

Dedicated exclusively to the literary set, Paragraph (35 W 14th St, between Fifth and Sixth Aves, third floor; 646-216-8407, paragraphny.com; membership $315–$762) is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The spacious loft is divided into private writing cubicles, but there’s also a comfy couch—and a nonworking fireplace for moments when you need to recline and stare into some nonexistent flames.

The Incubator at Rose Tech Ventures’ SparkSpace (30 E 23rd St at Madison Ave, fifth and sixth floors; sparkspaceny.com; virtual offices start at $200 per month) is the Beatrice Inn of coworking. Membership is invitation-only (though they’ll consider any application that’s submitted). Given the amenities (a location overlooking Shake Shack and 24-hour access), we can see why the competition is fierce. In Good Company (16 W 23rd St, between Fifth and Sixth Aves, fourth floor; 646-810-9195, ingoodcompanyworkplaces.com; rates start at $150) is selective too, but only regarding gender; membership is limited to female business owners and entrepreneurs.

Looking for temporary, part-time office space in Manhattan? Or a place to launch your start-up? Too busy actually starting it up to navigate the wild and woolly real-estate terrain yourself, not to mention furnish the place? Kick back and let the folks at Micro Office (work spaces located at 36 W 20th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 1375 Broadway between 37th and 38th Sts; 646-201-5508, microoffice.com; $495 per month) do it all for you.

OTHER OUTER BOROUGHS
Members of the Church of Gossip Girl will likely recognize Communitea (47-02 Vernon Blvd at 47th Ave, Long Island City, Queens; 718-729-7708) as the coffeeshop where Vanessa worked before Rufus gave her a barista gig. There’s a similar caffeine-and-work–friendly atmosphere at Café Soleil (37-14 Astoria Blvd at 37th St, Astoria, Queens; 718-777-1015) and Riverdale’s artsy institution An Beal Bocht Cafe (445 W 238th St at Waldo Ave, Bronx; 718-884-7127, anbealbochtcafe.com), which boasts free Wi-Fi by day and poetry readings by night.

Coworking NYC is always on the lookout for new locations and people interested in starting their own work groups. Check out their wiki page (wiki.coworking.info), join the Google group, introduce yourself and start promoting your own space.

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