The city may pull the plug on a massive party planned for a Prospect-Lefferts Gardens construction site on Feb. 25, because buildings officials say the property isn’t up to code and the organizers don’t have the necessary permits.
“The Sonic Jungle” — billed as a fusion of “wellness,” art, and music where disk jockeys will share space with meditation lounges, herbal-tea bars, and actual bars serving regular old booze — is scheduled to bring 4,000 people to three floors of the under-construction residential development at 510 Flatbush Ave. from 9 pm through 4 am, with subsequent events planned for March 11 and April 15.
“The pop-up event series is carefully curated to reconnect us to our cultural roots, to roots of the unknown, and to the roots of the earth itself,” reads the mysterious press materials prepared by the promoters.
The organizers claim they spent a year sound-proofing the space and getting all their permits in order, including obtaining a temporary certificate of occupancy declaring that the building between Lincoln Road and Empire Boulevard is up to code, according to spokeswoman Jessica Gray — although she said they couldn’t provide them to this paper until next week.
But both the Department of Buildings and the State Liquor Authority deny issuing any permits for the event, and say the structure doesn’t have a certificate of occupancy, temporary or otherwise.
The buildings department will send an inspector to the work-site in the coming days to determine if any un-permitted construction related to the party has occurred, said agency spokesman Andrew Rudansky.
The news should come as a relief to some Flatbush Avenue neighbors, who predict it is a recipe for disaster either way.
“There’s gonna be hell to pay,” said William Blue, who lives a few doors down from the proposed “cultural oasis pop-up.” “They’re going to be running all around, going in the hallways, doing drugs and drinking. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
But others were looking forward to an all-night rave-a-thon on their block.
“There’s a lot of different people in the neighborhood now — of course people will like it,” said Akeem Morris. “I don’t think it will be a problem.”
Even with permits, one-off dance clubs don’t require anywhere the same level community consultation as permanent venues, and the city has had to shut several previously approved parties in recent years after they were found to be fire hazards.
Firefighters party-pooped a 2015 Halloween rave at a toxic Greenpoint factory, and twice killed the music at Williamsburg pop-up nightclub the Brooklyn Mirage last summer.
The Sonic Jungle’s organizers say they do eventually plan a full-time club — the Lefferts-Gardens series is just a preview of a “permanent manifestation of the Sonic Jungle vision” for Bushwick in 2018, which will house artists in residence and cooperative workspaces by day and host “purposeful parties” by night, promoters said.
