How TM Davy’s Loft Was Saved for the Satyrs and Fairies

The artist TM Davy and his husband, public-school teacher turned Fire Island gardener Liam O’Malley Davy, found the apartment on Craigslist in 2010. The building, in East Williamsburg, was once a sewing factory. Their bedroom–study is stacked over the kitchen as well as a double-height space. Right now, you can see his darkly enchanting show at Company Gallery, “Fae,” featuring satyrs, fairies, tiny monsters and magical caves, which were in the space when I visited. In 2017, facing ever rising rents, several of the tenants banded together to get the building covered by the city’s loft laws. “It was a weird nightmare,” he says. “A lot of people chickened out; they didn’t feel it was worth the stress. They were afraid of … I don’t know what, exactly. I did feel that fear at the time, but I am glad we stuck with it.”