Shael Shapiro is an architect who was an early resident of 80 Wooster Street and continues to live on the street today. He was a pioneer in SoHo and was personally involved in many of the events covered in this book. George Maciunas consulted with him about architectural matters for 80 Wooster Street and other buildings. In 1971 at the height of the Fluxus movement, Shapiro assisted Maciunas in the production of a Yoko Ono/John Lennon museum show, and he then worked for Lennon and Ono for over a year.

Shapiro specializes in the adaptive reuse of buildings and has guided the conversion of hundreds of loft buildings to residential use. He has extensive experience dealing with city agencies involved with real estate and development. Shapiro was the architect for the PS1 artist studios and museum in Queens, which opened in 1976. The Downtown Collection of the Fales Library at New York University has acquired Shapiro’s personal papers relating to the development of SoHo and the conversion of loft buildings.