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One of the city’s last community darkrooms has until June 30 to survive. The only offer was $5,000 in installments.

The Bushwick Community Darkroom, one of NYC's last hands-on film developing spaces, faces closure by June 30 unless it secures new funding or ownership.

Exterior storefront of the Bushwick Community Darkroom at night, with an illuminated sign reading "Bushwick Community Darkroom" above the entrance and red darkroom light glowing through the window.

One of the city’s last community darkrooms has until June 30 to survive. The only offer was $5,000 in installments.

The Bushwick Community Darkroom, one of NYC's last hands-on film developing spaces, faces closure by June 30 unless it secures new funding or ownership.

One of the city’s last community darkrooms has until June 30 to survive. The only offer was $5,000 in installments.
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If you have ever wanted to develop a roll of film by hand in New York, your options are thinning out, and one of the last of them is on the clock. The Bushwick Community Darkroom, a do-it-yourself institution that has taught analog photography for 15 years, told its members on May 26 that it can no longer pay its own way, and it has until June 30 to lock in a new lease or shut down. The one buyer who came forward, according to Patch, offered $5,000 paid out in $500 monthly installments while asking to control the membership revenue right away.

It is not closing because nobody wants it. It is closing because one person has been running all of it. Founder Lucia Rollow opened the space in 2011 out of a closet in her basement, tested the idea with a Kickstarter (“If we didn’t make the goal, then the community didn’t need it, and I wouldn’t do it,” she told Patch) and has moved it four times since. What broke was the workload. “I’ve just been trying to do everything by myself,” Rollow said. “I can’t do the marketing and run the actual physical space.”

What is on the line is specific. From its storefront at 334 Himrod Street, the darkroom offers 24-hour member access after an orientation, classes in camera basics, black-and-white developing and…

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Filed underAnalog Photography / Film Developing / Sasha Brunetti

Bushwick Daily News Desk. Neighborhood news, politics, real estate, and business coverage produced by the Bushwick Daily newsroom.

Produced by Bushwick Daily News Desk

Neighborhood news, politics, real estate, and business coverage produced by the Bushwick Daily newsroom.

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