The Brooklyn Mirage is certainly living up to its name. Last week, a third set of shows was cancelled at the venue due to a failed safety inspection earlier this month.
In what was arguably its biggest weekend yet, in terms of artists booked, events featuring Peggy Gou, The Martinez Brothers, and Anjunadeep were forced to reschedule or relocate in a hurry. Mirage CEO Josh Wyatt, hired in October to rebrand and revamp Avant Gardner (the company behind the venue), pledged to be “forcefully transparent” in this new chapter for the beleaguered company, but both Wyatt and his team have been notedly quiet on social media since May 7.
Rather than updating fans of the changes as they had for the previous two cancelled weekends, the Mirage made no official statement, and instead, relied upon brands, DJs, and ticketing apps to get the news out.
“The Mirage isn’t saying anything,” said Cameron Bell, who had tickets to see The Martinez Brothers at the venue on Friday, May 16. “They’re not giving any updates. The only info I see is from the artists. It’s weird. Communication is off.”
What began with daily dispatches on the progress of construction from Wyatt has turned into virtual radio silence. We reached out to Wyatt and his team for a statement, but they were unable to provide comment for this article by press time.
Photo by Kim Pham
It’s time for Plan B
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for artists and managers working frantically behind the scenes to find alternative venues for their shows.
U.K. rave legends Underworld relocated their show to the Kings Theatre on Thursday. The Martinez Brothers shifted to Brooklyn Storehouse for Friday, dance music producer Peggy Gou had her Sunday show rescheduled to Oct. 24, and, ahead of their Wednesday, May 21 show, Empire of the Sun has already moved their show to Under the K Bridge Park. But the changes were particularly disruptive for Anjunadeep, which was slated to host DJs across multiple stages at Avant Gardner on Saturday.
The brand instead hosted one party at Pier 17 in Manhattan, another inside The Kings Hall, and a third at The Brooklyn Monarch. Fans who had bought tickets to see more than 25 artists in a festival-like setting were forced to pick and choose which party to go to, as each event was now ticketed separately.
“Like you, we are extremely disappointed with these recent developments,” Anjuna posted in a statement. “After ongoing discussions with the promoters, they are still unable to guarantee that The Brooklyn Mirage will be permitted to open this weekend. As a result, we’ve made the proactive decision to adjust our plans,” they added. “There was no way for us to recreate the event you bought tickets for, and so this felt like the only viable option of moving forward.”
For Fusun Dikengil, a pulmonary critical care doctor and rave influencer, the Mirage’s silence could imply the alterations aren’t a quick fix, and the delays could last much longer.
“They tried really hard to be transparent about as much as they could leading up to everything, but I think they were actually more so disillusioned,” said Dikengil, who has a ticket to see Tape B at the Mirage in June. “Their PR for the opening was really something, they were very self-aware of what the public perception was, of what we thought of Brooklyn Mirage, and kind of mocking us. They said multiple times that they absolutely would open and they fell short on their word. They’re like a dog with its tail between their legs at this point.”
As a rave influencer with her finger on the pulse of the scene, Dikengil is concerned about the worsening relationship between not only fans and the venue, but the artists as well.
“It’s creating a lot of stress and anxiety, and eventually you’re gonna lose the trust in the community,” Dikengil said. “The scene, like healthcare and the job that I’m in, relies on trust, and you’re offering an experience to people who build plans and expectations around that. If you don’t treat that with care, it reflects a deeper disregard for the community that you claim to serve.”
Photo by Kim Pham
Unrealistic expectations
In a sweeping interview last month, Wyatt told BKMAG the venue would “100 percent” be open on May 1 for its initial show with techno DJ Sara Landry. Building inspectors, however, had other plans.
Security crews had already arrived for a night’s work and fans were beginning to gather in the area. But after failing the safety inspection, the Mirage was forced to cancel just hours before doors were set to open.
For Oscar Mexia, a project manager at Mega Contracting Group, it was unrealistic for Wyatt to think they would pass an inspection on the same day they were planning to open, especially when the venue was still very clearly not done. “It’s not too difficult to fail an inspection, especially if you’re still under construction and your building looks like it’s not finished,” Mexia said. “That’s the first thing that an inspector would see, right? If they come in and they see manlifts, machines, and people working overhead, that’s not a good look for an inspection,” he continued.
“When I do inspections, there’s nothing in my building. It’s completely empty. I won’t even have a painter there. It’s pristine. You try to present it as if people are moving in tomorrow, right? That’s how the inspector gets comfortable.”
Though The Mirage did receive a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy from the Department of Buildings, it was never granted a Temporary Place of Assembly Certificate of Operation, which is required for event spaces where 200 or more people gather outdoors. As of Friday, the Mirage still hadn’t undergone a pre-inspection or an actual inspection to receive that certificate, according to DOB records. They currently have three work permits which the DOB has not approved: two for structural work on floors one, two, and three, and one for the foundation on floor one.
At the center of the dispute between the city and the Mirage, according to a person familiar with the details, is the DOB’s concern that the Mirage’s new structure is permanent, rather than temporary. The Mirage, according to the source, has attempted to convince the city that the prefabricated venue can be taken apart piece by piece. That, however, seems to be a moot point, as City Hall said the venue “does not currently meet the standards required for either a permanent or temporary structure.”
The city added that the Mirage does not meet the necessary structural and safety codes, nor does it have proper permitting to open.
“The safety of everyone in our city is always our top priority, which is why we cannot endanger New Yorkers by allowing them to enter a venue without a permit,” City Hall said, adding that events would be cancelled there “until we have deemed the site is safe and properly permitted.”
Photo by Kim Pham
“Show-ready?”
In an initial post announcing the opening weekend cancellations, The Mirage said they were “show-ready” and deflected the onus to the city’s inspection process.
For fans like Anne Bartron, who travelled from Denver for the opening weekend, “show-ready” means nothing if there is no actual show. Bartron spent more than $1,000 on flights and hotels, all of which were refundable up to 24 hours before, but said she was persuaded to make the trip by Wyatt promising they would be open in daily videos posted to his Instagram.
“As somebody who was travelling, it was very disappointing,” Barton said. “I’m glad that Sara Landry threw the pop-ups, but as far as the Brooklyn Mirage, I lost a lot of respect. For them to cancel only an hour or two before the show—especially considering the way they marketed it before—it was definitely pretty disappointing.”
Mexia, who has overseen the construction of many buildings in New York City, including most recently 15- and 20-story towers along the Gowanus Canal, said the process to bring a space up to code can sometimes take months, and that contractors normally budget that delay into their timeline.
Of course, a music venue is unlike a residential building in that it needs to book artists well in advance of opening—hiccups and scheduling delays are far less forgiving. Still, Mexia said Wyatt did himself no favors by doubling, tripling, and quadrupling down that they would open when it was a very real possibility that they might not.
“Waiting until so close to the first show was very risky,” Mexia warned. “Like, if you’re planning for events, and then you’re just waiting for an inspection, your inspection can take a week or it can take a month or two, depending on how backlogged they are.”
“That was probably, in my perspective, a bad decision to just publicize it so much that they’re still working days before, because imagine you’re DOB. You see all those videos, and then you see the public comments. With so many eyes on them, so many people talking about it, the city will see that, right? The city will have a lot of pressure to review everything.”
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