Walk past 176 Ninth Avc. on any given day or night, and you’ll swear you’re looking at a new arrival on the Chelsea gallery scene; or a corporate brainstorming session; or game night… or, a potluck? There are no wrong answers, becasue all that and more has been happening at the storefront space on the corner of West 21st Street—ever since it became the home of Neighbor (“a gathering space for Chelsea, created with love by neighbors”). We recently posed some questions to the Director of Neighbor, yielding the below Q&A…

Scott Stiffler, for Chelsea Community News (CCNews): When, and why, was Neighbor created–and what part did you play in that? What does your present role entail (and what is the job title)?

Katie Ellis, Director of Neighbor (Katie): Our founder, David Plant, has lived in Chelsea for almost 25 years—and as a longtime neighbor, he saw and lived through much of the change in the neighborhood. With the rapid gentrification and increase in tourism, the makeup of the neighborhood has drastically changed. With this change, there has been both positive change and some that has caused displacement. Around that same time, he started Storefront Church, a faith community that wanted to love Chelsea well.

In a kismet combination of timing of their founding as a church and the timing of the space becoming available on 9th & 21st, they were able to support the start of what has now become Neighbor. At the beginning, it was a space for the community and today, Neighbor is used for all kinds of community events. In 2026 alone, we’ve hosted over 80 community events, worked with over 60 non-profits, and hosted 5 art exhibitions. We also work with over 20 non-profits on a deeper level to help deepen impact for all and are building out our offerings for artists, as we prepare for the launch of our pilot artist residency program in early 2027. 

What started as a vision among Neighbors and through the generosity of Storefront Church has now grown into Neighbor being an organization created by and serving those in the community. My background is non-profit fundraising and operations and I’m also an artist. I knew David personally over the years and started renting Neighbor annually for my holiday artist pop-up. Through this, I was able to meet the many amazing folks who are a part of Neighbor. Then when it came time for Neighbor to grow into its next iteration, I was asked to step in as Director. 

Today, Neighbor has 3 focus areas:

(1)  Connect Neighbors: From book clubs to movement classes to our monthly community dinners, Neighbor has become a gathering space for West Chelsea.

(2)  Support Community Leaders: From our monthly breakfasts for non-profit founders to our upcoming pilot Community Leader Incubator to the over 20 non-profits benefiting from our space throughout the week, our goal is to support those creating positive change in the community so we can deepen impact for all.

(3) Foster Artist Development: Because Chelsea is in many ways the heartbeat of the art world and our space is a beautiful street-level space, we are growing our work with artists as we help artists prepare for their first solo exhibitions. The road of an artist is anything but linear and we are steadily growing a community of artists and creatives who are passionate about the role art (and artists) play in our society and support each other in this challenging, yet rewarding venture.

I am the Director of Neighbor in a part-time capacity, and we have one other very part-time program coordinator. Our efforts right now are focused on growing a strong foundation as we ramp up fundraising to meet the demand of the space. On any given day, I am meeting with artists, neighbors, leaders of partner organizations and strengthening the organizational side of things as we become a 501c3, grow a board of directors, and cast our vision and plans for the next few years. It’s all very exciting and I’m honored to be here! 

CCNews: How did Neighbor come to establish its Ninth Ave. location? What part does a storefront play in establishing a visible, welcoming presence?

Katie: For those of us who were in New York during the pandemic, we remember when the city was filled with empty storefronts. And 9th Avenue was no different. Years ago, this space was a children’s store and then most recently, a men’s clothing store. During the pandemic, the men’s clothing store went online and the space became available. As a neighbor on the block, he [David] saw the space become available and started to dream of what it could be. The initial vision was to create a space for the neighborhood. In a neighborhood where rapid gentrification has drastically changed the makeup of the community, there are few spaces designed specifically for the people who live here, and even more rare are spaces designed for both the longtime and new residents of Chelsea. Neighbor was designed to be a gathering and connecting space from the neighborhood and from there, it has become a place for grassroots non-profits, artists, neighbors, pop-up’s, community dinners, book clubs, and more.

CCNews: How does the Community Leader Coalition program support the work of Neighbor?

Katie: In New York, space is always an issue. Individuals, organizations, businesses are all needing more space. In the beginning, Neighbor wanted to make space accessible for the neighborhood. We still do that by offering a sliding scale of pricing for community-oriented organizations. As Neighbor grows, our desire is not just to offer space but to provide support and create opportunities for collaboration among organizations so that we can deepen impact together. So, much of our work with grassroots organizations has to do with tending to the health of the leader and providing support to equip them to grow their org and ultimately deepen impact in the community. 

We host a monthly breakfast for non-profit founders growing organizations on Manhattan’s west side. If you would like to apply to be included in this group, apply here. We keep the room invite-only and curated so that it can be a rich and meaningful experience for all involved.

CCNews: What does Neighbor offer, in terms of presenting its own regular programming, and being a host venue for others?

Katie: Our pillar event is our monthly community dinner. We started these dinners in July of 2025 to see if people would be into it. We had no idea that it would grow into such an amazing part of life at Neighbor. Once a month, we host a potluck dinner and the goal is simple: to do something as ordinary as eating a Monday night dinner with neighbors. These dinners have launched friendships, connected people who live on the same block, introduced small business owners who are now collaborators, and inspired neighbors to band together and start hosting their own events at Neighbor. Last fall, a group of 3 neighbors were talking at a dinner about creating a series of events which they ultimately launched together last fall. For each of them, the events were ideas they had been percolating on for a long time and with a little support and access to a space, they were able to bring it to life and become gatherers themselves. 

We offer other ad hoc events throughout the year—from art exhibition openings, to creative workshops. But most of our programming is hosted by neighbors. That’s what makes Neighbor so special. We don’t provide a lot of programming FOR the community. We help people solve their own loneliness by creating spaces of belonging for others. If you have an event idea for something you’d like to explore hosting at Neighbor, submit an inquiry here. 

Neighbor is also available for below market-rate rentals for non-profit fundraisers, kids birthdays, pop-ups, and more. All revenue from our rentals helps sustain the space and enable us to continue offering accessible space to the community. 

CCNews: Talk about any in-house programming booked through 2026. Will 2027 see any notable events or services (repeats or expansions of present programming, and/or new offerings)?

Katie: In 2027, we are piloting an artist residency program. Neighbor has formed an artist council as the leadership over the artist side to life at Neighbor. Unlike other residencies that provide space to create, our artist residency program is specifically designed to help visual artists prepare their first solo exhibition. This is specifically for visual artists who hope to work with galleries. Neighbor is not a gallery—but we are in close proximity to major players in the art world, and our goal is to leverage our space and relationships with established artists and curators to help emerging artists grow as in their creative practice and as they strengthen their portfolio. Because this is a pilot, we are starting with a small group of artists and as we secure funding for year two, we’ll be opening up the application to the public. So stay tuned! 

CCNews: In what way is the Ninth Ave. space made available as a gallery, and as a host venue for outside events?

Katie: Neighbor is a multi-functional space. Our space is open to the public on Mondays and Wednesdays 10am to 5pm and open for Co-Working on Fridays, 12pm to 4:30pm. Other times, you may walk by and see Neighbor being used by one of our 20 non-profit partners, rented for a party, or open for an artist exhibition opening. As we grow in volunteer support, we hope that the space can be open more for community drop-ins, co-working, etc. 

CCNews: Neighbor recently ran a series of workshops, in conjunction with the West Side Community Fund. What were the needs most often expressed by participants, and how did you respond?

Katie: Yes, my background is non-profit fundraising, so it’s been fun to pull from my professional experience to support the grantees of the West Side Community Fund and Neighbor’s non-profit partners. Funding is an issue for almost every organization and for those organizations that are founder-led, it is hard to focus and grow fundraising when you are also responsible for the programming and growth of the org (let alone life and work outside of the org!). Because of this, we designed three fundraising workshops specifically for non-profit founders that included topics related to building a fundraising plan that fits the stage and capacity of your organization (events, grants, marketing, etc). It was such an amazing experience! New connections were made, organizations started supporting and brainstorming for each other, and it was another clear example for me of the beauty and practical success that happens when we come together as a community. 

CCNews: How can individuals support the work of Neighbor?

Katie: Right now, our primary focus for Neighbor is financial sustainability. We have been overwhelmed by how much our programs have resonated with the community. It has been a year where we have seen the vision become realized—and now that programs are taking off, we are needing to grow our team. Right now, the space is fully run by volunteers, one part-time staff (me!), and a very part-time contractor. Storefront Church has been extremely generous in providing the seed funding for the space, but we know that in order to grow, Neighbor needs to be a true community effort. We have a big vision and in many ways, we’ve only scratched the surface. Our hope is that Neighbor becomes a physical space that activates all of us to live a little differently—that Chelsea becomes a neighborhood where each of us truly love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. And from that, we know that the impact of that will be incalculable. 

To learn more, visit helloneighbor.nyc. Subscribe to our email list to get our bi-weekly Neighbor News (click here to do so). If you’d like to support this work, join The Table. 

CCNews: Final question: Favorite Golden Girl, and why?

Katie: Haha. In full transparency, I grew up on Friends and Sex and the City, not The Golden Girls!!! 

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