Formerly the headquarters for the Bell Telephone Laboratories, the 13 buildings at this address were transformed into the Westbeth Artists Community in 1968-1970. Westbeth is one of the first examples of adaptive reuse of an industrial space to residential and artistic use in the United States. Although applications are no longer being accepted, residents had to meet low- to middle-income requirements, be a practicing artist, and meet the approval of a board.

Diane Arbus lived here, and she taught a photography course here in 1971. On July 26, 1971, while living at Westbeth, Arbus took her own life by ingesting barbiturates and slashing her wrists with a razor. Her body was found two days later by artist Martin Israel; Arbus was 48 years old.

Side note: Vin Diesel also used to live here.

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Diane and Allan Arbus's studio and living quarters were located at this address on the Upper East Side. The Arbus's professional partnership ended in 1956, when Diane quit the business; the couple formally separated three years later.

Their neighbor and friend was Robert Brown, an actor from the TV show Here Come the Brides. Allan Arbus changed careers later in life, becoming an actor. Among numerous other roles, he was the recurring character Dr. Sidney Friedman on M*A*S*H.

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The parents of Diane Arbus, David Nemerov and Gertrude Russek Nemerov, owned Russek's Department Store at this location. Specializing in fur and women's clothing, Russek's slogan was "An Institution of Paris Fashions."

Diane met Allan Arbus, who worked as a photographer in the marketing department of the store, when she was thirteen. In 1941, Diane and Allan Arbus were married (Diane was eighteen years old at the time).

The couple had two children together (Doon, 1945 and Amy, 1954). Diane and Allan Arbus separated in 1958, and they were divorced in 1969.

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The American photographer Diane Arbus was born as Diane Nemerov to David Nemerov and Gertrude Russek Nemerov on March 14, 1923. The Nemerovs were a wealthy Jewish couple who lived in New York City and owned Russek's, a women's clothing store on Fifth Avenue.

Diane attended the Fieldston School for Ethical Culture (also called Fieldston), an Ivy League prep school located adjacent to Central Park in Manhattan.

Fieldston's curriculum focuses on the pursuit of social justice, racial equality, and intellectual freedom. The school and the affiliated Ethical Culture Society have been havens for secular Jews who rejected the mysticism and rituals of Judaism, but accepted many of its ethical teachings.

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One summer, the photographer Diane Arbus spent her time working in Washington Square Park. It was here in 1965 that she shot, "A young man and his pregnant wife in Washington Square Park, NY," among several others.

Upon recalling her interactions in the park, Arbus said the following:

"And there were these territories staked out. There were young hippie junkies down one row, lesbians down another—really tough, amazingly hardcore lesbians—and in the middle were winos. They were like the first echelon, and the girls who came from the Bronx to become hippies would have to sleep with the winos to get to sit on the other part with the junkie hippies. It was really remarkable and I found it very scary. I mean, I could become a million things, but I could never become that."

Hear Arbus tell the story in her own voice here.

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