Capstones
Graduation Date
Fall 12-13-2025
Grading Professor
Alia Malek
Subject Concentration
International
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Abstract
Defiance Through Noise analyzes the eviction of Punk HQ from 39 Eldridge Street within the broader history of punk-led, DIY, and squatted spaces in New York City. Using court records, historical context, and firsthand accounts from organizers, former nonprofit workers, and participants, the project examines Punk HQ as both a community space for marginalized youth and a continuation of Lower East Side squatting traditions from the 1970s and 1980s. The reporting situates its closure within intersecting forces of government disinvestment, housing policy, post-pandemic economic pressures, and the nonprofit industrial complex that have contributed to the decline of autonomous cultural spaces. By drawing comparisons to institutions such as ABC No Rio, the project argues that punk spaces function as forms of collective self-defense, sustaining political education, skill-sharing, and mutual aid amid ongoing displacement.
https://tylerpaz.com/capstone
Recommended Citation
paz, tyler, "Defiance Through Noise" (2025). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gj_etds/850
PunkHQPhotos.pdf (14404 kB)
DefianceThroughNoise.mp4 (10226 kB)
LOGOUT.mov (81201 kB)
