"When Nick Lawrence, the founder of the 24th Street gallery Freight+Volume, took an apartment in El Barrio, AKA Spanish Harlem, he noticed that one amenity was in short supply: art galleries. So it was that in May I found myself attending the opening of Arts+Leisure in a 400 sq. ft former beauty salon at Lexington and 100th Street. The opening--drawings by Joshua Abelow--was pleasant, as was the after-party in a local bar. But when I told others of my evening plans, some reacted as if I had said I was to picnic in Eastern Ukrain. Will Lawrence get collectors? 'For sure,' he said. 'There's a movement away from downtown. I know people who are moving into the 70s and 80s, and the old Ab Ex section on 79th Street. This is 20 blocks north, but I like the neighbourhood. It's an experiment. The shows will be two months, to give people time to come uptown. I'm hoping that other spaces will follow suit. We don't have running water yet. We need a little more electric. But somehow we got open.'"