Three of the floors were rented to the painter Julian Schnabel and from 1977 to 1983 the Mudd Club, a nightclub frequented by musicians and artists, was in the same building.

[4] Since either the 1980s or 1990s as an openly gay artist,[5][6] his art has been largely an investigation of change, loss, and memory, often addressing the subject of AIDS.

Bleckner uses symbolic imagery rather than direct representation, and his work is visually elusive, with forms that constantly change focus.

[9] One of Bleckner's earliest artwork that reflected the AIDS epidemic was a painting called Small Count (1990).

Bleckner is currently a Clinical Professor of Studio Art at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

In May 2009 Bleckner was awarded the title of Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Together the children and Bleckner created portraits and paintings, which were sold at a United Nations benefit and through his exhibition, Welcome to Gulu, at Lehmann Maupin Gallery.

[24] In 1993, he bought Truman Capote’s modern beach house on a five-acre property in Sagaponack, New York, for $800,000,[24] then owned by The Nature Conservancy.

[25] Over 20 years and two major renovations, he doubled the house's size, and had a matching 1,900 square-foot studio built on an adjoining field.

[27][28] Shortly after, Gilman’s lawsuit was first filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, in which he sought a trial by jury, remuneration for lost wages and damages as a consequence of unwanted sexual advances, harassment and assault.