Shivangi Sinha
The beauty of the Providence Place Mall hideout lies in its secrecy and exclusivity. What unfolded inside the mall was a performance meant for a select few, one of whom was Jay Zehngebot. As one of the original four, he played a key role in shaping the project in its early days and watched it grow as others joined and the group expanded to eight. What began as a small, unconventional idea slowly evolved into something much larger. Netflix’s ‘Secret Mall Apartment’ features Zehngebot’s interview, where he reflects on what drew him into the project and what the experience was truly like.
Jay Zehngebot Spent the First Few Days Sleeping in His Jacket at the Mall
Jay Zehngebot recalled that the idea of going into the mall, claiming the space, and seeing what could be done with it felt exciting and playful at first. He described the early days as similar to a teenage hangout, surviving on food court meals, using public restrooms, and seeing who could last the longest. On the first night, he and Andrew Oesch found a small four-by-four room where they slept in their jackets, an experience that was far from comfortable. Things changed once Michael Townsend discovered the space that eventually became the apartment. From that point on, the project shifted into building out a functional condo, a process in which Jay was deeply involved. He spoke with great respect for Michael and credited him as a mentor. Jay said the decade-long experience with Michael shaped who he is today and taught him invaluable lessons.
Jay Zehngebot Balances His Creative Pursuits Alongside His Work as an Engineer Today
Jay Zehngebot was raised in Florida, but he creatively forged his path in Providence. While his path has been nonlinear, it has remained deeply coherent. Jay’s early fascination with comics, visual art, and children’s books led him to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he earned a degree in Printmaking. During his time in Providence, Rhode Island, he became immersed in the city’s artist-run ecosystem. He worked as a professional public artist creating temporary, large-scale murals with the Tape Art collective and played a key role at AS220’s Community Printshop, where he helped build infrastructure, teach workshops, and direct community-based programming that supported emerging and underserved artists.
Motivated by a growing interest in creative technology, Jay went on to earn a Master’s degree from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP). While there, he explored the intersection of storytelling and software, including the development of Comicdrop, an experimental platform aimed at rethinking how comics could be created and distributed digitally. This work marked his transition into technology-driven creative practice. Following graduate school, Jay joined Dow Jones, where he spent over a decade working across engineering, experimentation, and product development for major publications including The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s. Beginning as a Software Developer, he contributed full-stack solutions, built new editorial templates and tools, and helped migrate Barron’s to a modern React-based platform.
As a Senior Software Engineer, he focused on internal tooling that enabled rich visual embeds, live market data integration, analytics, and multivariate testing to improve user engagement across platforms. From 2022 to 2023, Jay served as Engineering Manager for Experimentation, leading teams responsible for designing and deploying large-scale A/B and multivariate testing systems. In December 2024, Jay joined TED Conferences as a Front-End Software Engineer, where he currently works on tools and systems supporting TED’s conference platforms and internal workflows. Today, he is based out of Brooklyn, New York, and his work continues to be guided by the same experimental spirit that shaped his earliest artistic practice.
Jay Zehngebot is Raising His Son With the Same Values
Jay Zehngebot keeps much of his private life out of the public eye, but one role clearly anchors everything he does. He is a father to his son, a responsibility that now shapes both his creative focus and the pace of his work. In recent years, his practice has leaned strongly toward illustration and storytelling. Through his personal website, he regularly shares drawings, experiments, and narrative pieces, many of which reflect a playful yet thoughtful visual language. Jay has also contributed to books, animations, and cartoon projects, including titles such as ‘You Are What You Eat’ and the ‘Ah Goo’ series. These works reflect his ongoing interest in humor and accessible storytelling.
Read More: Jada Vidal: Where is the Hell’s Kitchen Star Now?
