Kosciuszko Bridge rave
photo via @hrhtea_

A rave under the Kosciuszko Bridge drew hundreds of non-socially distant revelers

A week after The Chainsmokers’ “luxury” Hamptons drive-in show set off the wrath of the New York Health Department, hundreds of people gathered under the Kosciuszko Bridge in Greenpoint on Saturday night (8/1), for a rave that definitely didn’t adhere to social distancing guidelines. As Guest of a Guest reports, the event was originally framed as related to Black Lives Matter, and an organizer clarified to them that it was a fundraiser for the Legal Aid Society. Pictureplane, in a since-deleted Twitter post advertising his DJ set, called it a rave, though. DJ Mazurbate was also among those spinning, and while he can be seen in videos wearing a mask (and getting surgical masks thrown at him), that safety measure didn’t seem to be followed across the board.

In a pair of tweets that have since been deleted, DJ and Italians Do It Better co-owner Mike Simonetti said he’d been invited to play but declined. “OK so i was asked to play that party under the bridge last night, and i turned it down,” he wrote. “My father died alone because of Covid. My mother was not allowed to see him until hours before he could die in hospice. I saw it as a disrespect to both my mother and everyone else who is going through what she went through. Imagie being married for 50 years and not being able to see your husband on his death bed?”

UPDATE: Event organizers defended the party to Gothamist, saying, “If you think people aren’t going to gather, you’re a fool—there’s no stopping that. The event got out of control because people wanted to come, people wanted to be out. People have been cooped up for so long. The pressure is building, and people need a release. It’s already happening. We can do it more safely, or we can pretend it isn’t happening.”

See videos from the rave below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDaPkzbnssQ/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDaPtynnQAY/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDaQWnSHO9R/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDajn0XHyOY/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDbxBgEh-X0/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDZNa7cAtjN/