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The Future of N 6th Street
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 5, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 5, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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We got an email from Northsix owner Jeff Steinhauser today, regarding the post we had written about the venue (or rather, the future venue Music Hall of Williamsburg). The post was pointing to an article on Brooklyn Record (who took down their post), which was referring to a Brooklyn Star article.
The Brooklyn Star article was apparently vastly unresearched and for the most part, untrue (expect a retraction from them). Steinhauser has provided us with a transcript of a conversation between himself and the neighbor (to the venue), Dan McCarthy, referred to and quoted in the original article. The two get in to how the neighborhood has changed:
DM- Maybe it's just more in your vernacular, that scene. but for us, some of the people in the neighborhood... we're just kind of blown away by what was happening. It just changed really, really quickly. We're trying to roll with it...we just feel like, i mean how big is this new club?
JS- Well it's not much bigger than it was. Our entire occupancy was nearly 400 and the new place is planned to be 550 people. When you consider the absence of the upstairs parties, it's actually going to be less people on the block from our building.
DM- But the club is going to be larger?
JS- Well, it's going to have higher ceilings...the second floor is going to be removed. It's going to look more like a theater. instead of 16 ft. ceilings, it's going to have 32 ft. ceilings. but the actual amount of floor space...there's no change.
DM- Well I don't know what to say, it's just that uh, you can't turn the clock back to the good old days. Nobody can.
JS- You know i have to say, we worked really hard to build that place, and it's really not fair that, just because it's a business that you're not attracted to, I don't think it's fair for you to say that it doesn't have a right to exist. We've done everything legally and properly. I don't want to feel like i'm apologizing for anything...
DM- No, no Jeff, I'm not asking you to apologize. like i said, that [Brooklyn Star] article iI haven't seen, and I'll apologize to you in print if, you know, this guy was a young kid and it sounds like he misinterpreted what i said..
JS- Yeah, you know things aren't the way they were before, and in a neighborhood like this where people want to see shows, there needs to be a place like this. It's New York City... a live music capitol of the world. The customers are in the neighborhood and they support the business. If businesses stick around, i think that shows that, naturally they ARE meant to be there if they are operating legally. If the neighborhood truly didn't want it, it would go out of business.
DM- I grew up in Southern California in the late '70s, i saw the Germs and all these bands at The Whiskey... and now i'm a 48 year old guy and i'm in bed at 11 o'clock
JS- I have to call you out on that Dan... just because you've changed, doesn't mean that you can expect the entire world to change with you also. Just because you don't enjoy going to places like ours... i have to admit, i'm older now, and i'm a bit of a home-body myself lately. I'm home with my daughter a lot. Just because i don't go to certain places anymore... it would NEVER occur to me to try and have those places shut down.
We agree with much of what Steinhauser has to say. In the end, we all live in New York. It's a city, a noisy one...get used to it. Let's just be happy Northsix isn't turning in to luxury condos, okay?
Photo via Patrick Joseph's flickr.
Tagged
brooklyn
Brooklyn Record
california
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live music
Music
Music Hall
new york
new york city
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Southern California
The Brooklyn
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the Germs
theater
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williamsburg
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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