An out-of-place dance club — shuttered after noise and capacity violations — will reopen this week in Gowanus with a new name and concept.
Owners of Ultraviolet — where DJs once spun trance music under flashy purple lights — will now showcase live rock and jazz acts “better suited” for the arty, blossoming industrial neighborhood.
Dubbed “Leylas and Leylas,” the new bar will open inside the same three-level venue on Third Avenue near Seventh Street — but will instead cater less to a virtually non-existant population of Park Slope club kids and more to a seemingly inexhaustable supply of 20- to 50-year-old Slopers who still go out to hear live music (though not as often as they’d like).
“We decided to stop going against the grain,” said manager Mike Grabelsky, who ran the now-defunct Twins bar in Manhattan. “Ultraviolet’s personality wasn’t right for the neighborhood.”
Indeed, the nightclub arrived at an awkward time for Gowanus — September 2010 — just as a slew of new restaurants and bars began to sprout, changing the face of the then-grittier street.
Eateries like Four & Twenty Blackbirds, a scrumptious pie shop, and bars like Halyards, a cozy whiskey joint, were instant neighborhood hits — but Ultraviolet never gained a such a local following.
Instead, it pulled in an out-of-hood clientele while locals rolled their eyes at club kids.
Then on March 12, cops busted the club for packing 230 people into the 160-person space and violating noise regulations, according to Grabelsky. It closed a week later.
Grabelsky says his mission is to “clean up Ultraviolet’s problems,” and make the place, “old-school and friendly.”
Leylas and Leylas, which is named after the owner’s 5-year-old granddaughter, will feature private parties, host Brooklyn bands from Thursday through Sunday — often with no cover charge — and serve beer on tap.
“We want to be part of the neighborhood,” Grabelsky said.
Would-be competitors liked the sound of that.
“Could be a good fit,” said Halyards manager, Mara Gordon. “This neighborhood is flourishing creatively — so we need more places for local bands.”
Leylas and Leylas [424 Third Ave. at Seventh Street in Gowanus, (718) 596-6627].
