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title: ABC No Rio created: 2026-04-07 updated: 2026-04-07 type: venue tags: [venue, diy, hardcore, era-1990s, era-2000s, era-2010s, era-2020s] sources: [raw/articles/abc-no-rio-wikipedia.md]

ABC No Rio

156 Rivington Street, Lower East Side, New York City. DIY arts center and punk venue. Founded 1980 as part of the Lower East Side squatting/art movement. Home to the Saturday Hardcore/Punk Matinee — one of the longest-running all-ages punk shows in the world.

The Saturday Matinee

ABC No Rio’s Saturday afternoon hardcore/punk matinee has been running for over 25 years (with interruptions for building renovation — expected to reopen in its renovated space in July 2026). Run by a volunteer collective. All-ages. $5-7 donation. Committed to diversity: “We do not book racist, sexist, or homophobic bands.”

The matinee format — afternoon shows, all-ages, cheap, no alcohol — is NYC punk’s most important institution. While CBGB was the glamorous birthplace, ABC No Rio was the working-class heart. Kids who couldn’t get into bars could see hardcore at 2pm on a Saturday.

The Space

ABC No Rio is more than a punk venue — it’s a community center:

  • Punk/HC matinees — Saturday afternoons
  • Zine library — One of the largest in the country
  • Computer center — Free internet access
  • Darkroom — Photography
  • Screen printing — DIY infrastructure
  • Food Not Bombs — Free meals

The building at 156 Rivington was a squatter-occupied space that became a formal nonprofit. The renovation (ongoing as of 2026) has displaced the matinee temporarily.

NYC Venue Network

ABC No Rio was part of a network of NYC venues that supported punk through the 90s-2000s:

  • cbgb — The birthplace (closed 2006)
  • ABC No Rio — The heart
  • Coney Island High — St. Mark’s Place punk club (1995-1999)
  • Brownies — East Village rock club (1989-2002)
  • Wetlands Preserve — Tribeca, activist/jam/punk (1989-2001)
  • Knitting Factory — Experimental/noise/punk
  • The Continental — Dive bar/punk
  • cbgb — the other NYC punk venue
  • nyhc — the scene
  • diy — the ethos
  • basement-shows — the afternoon matinee as formalized basement show