Bushwick's Brooklyn Mirage opening as permanent 6000-cap venue

Brooklyn Mirage
The Mirage, summer 2015. Photo by Amanda McHugh

Brooklyn Mirage, a 6,000 capacity space located off the Jefferson L stop in Bushwick, opened in 2015 but was shut down by New York authorities in 2016 for safety violations. The venue was also busted for serving alcohol without a permit, and Williamsburg’s Community Board voted to advise New York state against granting the venue a liquor license.

Today, the venue’s promoters, Cityfox, were granted a license by The New York State Liquor Authority, which will allow them to permanently reopen the venue, THUMP reports. Last week, the Community Board had unanimously voted against Cityfox’s application, though the board’s recommendation was only advisory.

Brooklyn Mirage is only the outdoor portion of the complex that Cityfox plans to open, which is called Avant Gardner (and located at 111 Gardner Ave). The THUMP article notes that the 80,000 square feet complex will be one of the largest venues that holds nightlife events in the country. They plan to throw music events that run from 2 PM to 4:30 AM. They also “plan to host community functions at the space, such as performing arts events, corporate gigs, film and photo shoots, and fashion shows.”

A DNAinfo article also points out that they’re looking to invest in a “neighborhood beautification plan” that would commission local artists to paint murals on the empty walls around the site. They’re also planning for the venue to include a restaurant that serves tacos, pizza, and German street food, and they’re planning to decorate it with 15,000 live plants and 35 palm trees.

At a community board meeting in February, Citfox’s Billy Bildstein said, “I want to apologize to you, the community, about many things we could have done better. We made mistakes and we didn’t do our homework right before we approached the board last year. I know we didn’t make a very good impression last year, and we’re here to show you the improvements.”

Cityfox is looking to get the place up and running in the coming weeks.