cooperBricolage Archive

In late July I met with Sanford Dickert near NYU/Cooper Union to discuss his new coworking space called CooperBricolage (cooBric). It seems that the bar that the space was located in has restructured/renovated and cooBric is looking for a new home. If you have any ideas on space in NYC, send the cooBric team a note.

cooBric is a different type of coworking — i.e. it’s located in a bar with small bar tables and short hours. My concern (along with Till’s) is that the tables are so small, can you really get work done this way? Sanford believes yes, I think it’s an interesting alternative to the more traditional coworking say at Independents Hall in Philadelphia.

Dan also notes that the signin list only showed a few people a day and that more people are needed to show that coworking can work in NYC. I agree and would only add that cooBric didn’t have enough time to make it work. Personally I wish they would change the name to something less "educational". But with Sanford’s passion around the space, I am sure that he will make it work.

And I can assure you, CenterNetworks is ready to move into a coworking space.

Today I had lunch with Sanford Dickert. Sanford is a professor at Cooper Union. I met Sanford initially when he asked me to judge his students Web 2.0 projects earlier this year. Sanford is one of those people who can get you excited about anything because of their clear passion for what they are speaking about.

We spoke about a new coworking space that Sanford has developed. It's called cooperBricolage (I don't love the name) and is located near Cooper Union and NYU in the Village section of NYC.

I wrote about Coworking earlier this year and think it will continue to grow. My friend Alex is starting a Coworking space in Philadelphia called Independents Hall and Chris Messina/Tara Hunt have started a space in San Francisco called Citizen Space.

Ok, back to cooperBricolage. The space is interesting as it's inside a bar/restaurant (see the pics here). When I think of coworking, I think of a large open office-type space with Ikea furniture, a Ms. Pac Man machine and a beer fridge. This is like working in a bar!

Sanford is looking to install a variety of new hardware to make the environment better for developers. There is a super-speedy Internet connection and lots of seating. Their hours of operation are 9-5:30 daily and here is the initial pricing plan: (they are working on some additional pretty innovative ways of reducing the rates below including working the door for a few hours)

• One (1) day rate: $15 for in-town, $20 out-of-town; free drip coffee/iced tea, one free speciality coffee, 10% discount on Cafe Fuego food (and you get a $5 discount on your first visit)
• Five (5) day date: $65 for one-month expiration; 15% discount on Cafe Fuego food for life of CB pass
• Ten (10) day rate: $120 for one-month expiration; 15% discount on Cafe Fuego food for life of CB pass
• One month rate: $230 for one month expiration; 20% discount on Cafe Fuego food for life of CB pass

I think the space is interesting and should appeal to those freelancers who are looking to work outside of their home but not in a traditional office environment. They are looking for feedback so if you have any ideas, post them on the Wiki.