Lisa Phillips and Richard Flood, director and chief curator of the New Museum of Contemporary Art respectively, are decisively changing the centre of gravity in the New York artworld. Before the museum’s new home on the Bowery has even opened (set for 1 December), it is already anchoring a growing arts district on the Lower East Side. Recent openings include branches of Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn’s Salon 94 and Chelsea gallery Lehmann Maupin. Phillips and Flood have a crack curatorial team, including Massimiliano Gioni of the Wrong Gallery, and shows of Tomma Abts and of the Rivane Neuenschwander lined up. An innovative partnership between the New Museum, the MCA Chicago and the Hammer in LA to commission and acquire new video has resulted in work by Patty Chang, Fiona Tan and Aernout Mik. Most stunning will be the museum’s new building by Japanese architects Sejima + Nishizawa/SANAAT.