Gowanus’s once-embattled canal-side dance party is back — and this time the civic group in charge of watchdogging boozy bashes is feeling the beat.
A formerly illegal outdoor dance fest-turned-legit daytime romp is slated to return to the former Brooklyn Yard party site on Carroll and Bond streets — and for the first time ever the dance series has won support from a Community Board 6 committee tasked with green-lighting outdoor alcohol permits.
“It’s a welcome addition to the neighborhood,” said board member and bar owner Lou Sones. “It’s an appropriate location and it’s not going to keep anybody up.”
The support of CB6’s permits and licenses committee helps legitimize a formerly underground bash that did not have proper liquor and sound permits two years ago, when landlords abruptly shut it down.
The Sunday parties, now dubbed “Gowanus Grove,” have since changed promoters and are back in full swing with local food vendors, beer, and turntables spinning on the grassy, half-acre lot until 9 pm. Organizers threw the parties last year with a 9 pm curfew and a legit beer license — but did not go before the community board for approval.
Promoter Mark Connell told the civic group last week that the family-friendly parties won’t bother anyone because they will be held more than a block from residential buildings. Connell declined to talk in more detail about the event, saying he prefers to wait until Community Board 6’s official full board vote on May 9.
But a website for the event offers a few more details about the promoter’s shows.
“We haul out our big blue sound system, get some amazing local food vendors, and set up a bar,” it reads.
That’s fine by business-boosting Gowanus residents, who are happy to see banks of the waterway slated for something other than a toxic clean-up site.
“I support it — it brings people to our streets and into our shops,” said Paul Basile of the Gowanus Alliance. “We like it when people use the canal — as long as it’s done safely.”
Reach reporter Natalie O'Neill at noneill@cnglocal.com or by calling her at (718) 260-4505.
