Times are tough for New York’s contemporary-art galleries. More than 24 have shut down over the past year. As the new season begins, the survivors are cutting costs cleverly and thinking strategically. It’s paradoxical, but the galleries best positioned to endure may be the relative newcomers — especially the ones with low fixed costs — and those specializing in emerging artists. "If you’re a younger gallery that is critically oriented and has a certain amount of momentum and low overhead, you will see that you are growing," says Lisa Cooley, who launched her Lower East Side space in early 2008. Her sales, all in the $2,000-$20,000 range, are up twofold over last year. Her neighbor Augusto Arbizo, director of the two-year-old Eleven Rivington gallery, says his clients include a veteran collecting couple who have turned their focus to emerging talent to accommodate a diminished budget.

"There’s an excitement about younger artists whose work is priced right," says Sara Meltzer, who opened her gallery in SoHo in 1998 and moved it to Chelsea two years later. She nearly sold out her April show of 29-year-old Sarah Cain’s mixed-media works, all priced under $10,000. Still, she closed up shop for July and August — "Foot traffic has been so slow it’s demoralizing." To save on mailing and installation costs she will keep some shows up for as long as seven weeks.

To attract new clients and keep regular ones interested, dealer Ed Winkleman partnered late last year with neighboring gallery Schroeder Romero to launch Compound Editions, a publishing venture for low-priced ($100 to $500 apiece) multiples. Now they are in discussions to expand the print roster to artists they don’t represent. James Fuentes, who since 2007 has operated a space on the Lower East Side, also plans to add an editions program.

Alix Sloan, director of the two-year old Sloan Fine Art, has coped by adjusting her exhibition schedule: Last winter, when the market was getting especially rough, she pushed up shows of Marion Peck and Elizabeth McGrath, two of her better-selling artists, to the spring. "Now I know I will be open in September," she says. "But in March I was on the phone with my sister asking about living in her basement."

Dealers are also generating buzz with special events. In late February, the Chicago dealer Kavi Gupta put together a weekend of panel discussions featuring galleries in his West Washington Street building during which they kept their back rooms open. "There was a huge turnout," says Gupta. "A lot of people did business." Now there’s talk among Chelsea dealers about organizing an event similar to Berlin’s annual Gallery Weekend in May, when galleries coordinate openings and lengthen hours, creating an art fair atmosphere.

Cutting overhead is another strategy. Michael Lieberman says his gallery "is in a particularly fortunate position now" because he was able to reduce his rent, negotiating a 50 percent decrease for a year on his 3,500-square-foot space. The arrangement, which stipulates that the difference be paid back with nominal interest, gives the gallery a financial cushion. Conversely, some Chelsea dealers are getting more bang for the same rental buck: Zieher Smith’s new digs on 20th Street are more than double the size of its former space, and the rent is about the same, $15,000 a month.

Mergers are another strategy. While no galleries have formally merged, a spirit of collaboration is in the air. In February, before Taxter & Spengemann’s lease in Chelsea ran out and it moved to the East Village, the gallery held a joint exhibition with Andrew Kreps gallery as T&S n’ Kreps. "The notion of a strong gallery identity is shifting," says Kelly Taxter.

Such partnerships would not be without their hurdles. As Lisa Cooley puts it, "In some ways it’s a perfect time to consider partnering. But we are all forging our own identities. ... If I partnered with somebody, it would be like bringing in a stepfather — another level of stress, and administration."