The Knitting Factory opened in 1987 inside a run-down former Avon Products office on East Houston Street in Manhattan, founded by Michael Dorf and Louis Spitzer. What started as a scrappy art gallery and café quickly became one of New York’s most important stages for experimental jazz, noise, and downtown avant-garde music, with composer John Zorn closely tied to its early creative direction.
Over the following decades the club relocated within Manhattan, launched Knitting Factory Records, and grew into Knitting Factory Entertainment, a company that produced the Broadway musical Fela! and operated clubs across the country. The original New York space eventually closed its doors for good, but the Knitting Factory name lives on through concert houses in Boise, Idaho and Spokane, Washington, which continue booking touring artists under the brand.
Stats at a Glance
- Founded: 1987, Houston Street, Manhattan
- Founders: Michael Dorf and Louis Spitzer
- Type: Live music club / concert house
- Current Locations: Boise, ID and Spokane, WA
- Boise Capacity: about 999
- Spokane Capacity: about 1,500
- Famous For: Launching pad for NYC’s downtown avant-garde jazz scene
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Birthplace of a Sound
In its earliest years on Houston Street, the Knitting Factory hosted poetry nights, performance art, and improvised jazz from artists mainstream clubs wouldn’t book. A weekly “Live at the Knitting Factory” radio broadcast eventually reached over 200 stations, and the club’s own label, Knitting Factory Works, documented the scene on record. The venue later moved to a larger space on Leonard Street in Tribeca before founder Michael Dorf departed the company in 2002.
The Knitting Factory Today
Under CEO Morgan Margolis, Knitting Factory Entertainment rebranded existing clubs in Boise and Spokane as Knitting Factory concert houses in 2008. Knitting Factory Boise, at 416 S. 9th Street in the BoDo district, and Knitting Factory Spokane, at 919 W. Sprague Avenue downtown, remain active general-admission rooms that book national touring acts across rock, hip-hop, and metal. New York City locations came and went in Brooklyn and later Manhattan over the 2010s and 2020s, but Boise and Spokane have carried the Knitting Factory name forward as its most enduring live venues.
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Knitting Factory FAQs
Is the original Knitting Factory in New York still open?
No. The original Manhattan club closed in 2009, and later New York incarnations in Brooklyn and Manhattan have also since closed. The Knitting Factory brand continues today through concert houses in other cities.
Where can you catch a show at Knitting Factory today?
Knitting Factory Entertainment currently operates concert houses in Boise, Idaho and Spokane, Washington, both of which regularly host touring bands and artists.
Who founded the Knitting Factory?
Michael Dorf and Louis Spitzer founded it in 1987 in Manhattan, with Bob Appel joining as a co-owner soon after. Composer John Zorn was closely associated with its early artistic direction.
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Photo: honeymoon music / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.