[4] Journalist and author Robert Neuwirth described the situation that gave birth to many of New York's squats, including C-Squat, in the late 1970s through 1980s, "In the 1970s, scores of landlords walked away from old tenement buildings.

"[5] After extensive negotiations beginning under Giuliani's administration, New York City granted provisional ownership of C-Squat and 11 other Lower East Side squats to the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) in 2002.

[7][8][11] Having completed this process, C-Squat is no longer a "squat," but rather a legally occupied building, purchased by the former squatters in a deal brokered with the city council by the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board in 2002 for one dollar.

[3][4][13] The building has also hosted a number of artists and activists throughout its history,[3] as Neuwirth discovered when he wrote his article, Squatter's Rites for City Limits Magazine, "To climb the steps in C Squat is to walk up a living graffiti artwork.

But instead of monikers, these tags are battle cries for revolution, outlaw logos, complaints, and humorous takes on official slogans..."[14] When it was first squatted, the building was falling apart and central joists had to be replaced.

The museum's storefront displays materials such as photographs, posters, zines, underground newspapers, comics, banners, and buttons that show how local residents cleaned up vacant lots and buildings in the area and made them organizing spaces for the community.

The museum offers three public walking tours that lead participants to the East Village's most legendary community gardens, squats, and sites of social change and explain their complex and often controversial histories.

[16][17] Shortly after its opening, The New York Times ran an online feature, proclaiming, "MoRUS Squats on Avenue C"[18] – though the museum is not technically affiliated with C-Squat (nor are they squatters there), but rather an independently operated space.