Ridgewood is known for its charming cafes and refreshing, residential atmosphere. But just beneath the surface, a unique community group—known as Woodbine—is holding meetings in a small space on its namesake street.

Founded in 2013, this experimental hub has worked to create space for those interested in developing the skills and tools necessary to build collective autonomy. “We host workshops, lectures, discussions, and serve as a meeting and organizing space,” the group responded collectively in an email. “We are a space to get organized for a collective future beyond capitalism, within a time of catastrophe. We’re building a community where skills and passions are magnetic forces that pull people together.” The group credits the overwhelming trend in increased “screen time” and decreased face-to-face contact as inspiration for this human-centric collective.

One might wonder how a space so novel in its mission, and so independently-minded, can exist in our beloved Ridgewood. “Because of the economics of New York City, physical spaces usually have to institutionalize to find the funding to sustain themselves. This means having to render themselves clearly legible as an arts or cultural space, a community or political space, some kind of incubator or entrepreneurial space, or whatever the case might be,” the group says. “We’ve tried to either reject or blur these explicit self-definitions, to be fluid or adaptable to different uses at different times.”