Sunset Park

Controversial music festival moves from Crown Heights to Sunset Park following public protest

November 19, 2015 By Scott Enman Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Joseph Capriati performs at the 2014 Time Warp Festival in front of thousands of ravers. Photos: Daniel Leinweber for Razberry Photography / www.razberryphotography.com
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The show must go on for the Time Warp Music Festival — just not at its originally planned location.

The two-day annual electronic music festival, which was created in Germany, was set to take place at the Bedford-Union Armory this weekend, but was forced to move to the 39th Street Pier in Sunset Park after public opposition.  

This is the second straight year that Time Warp has had to scramble at the last minute to find a new location.

In 2014, the festival moved from the Kingsbridge Amory in the Bronx to the 39th Street Pier due to a problem with the building’s permits and because of complaints from the community.

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Last year’s festival went smoothly despite the relocation.

The festival, which had planned to take place each night from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., brought concerns to the surrounding residential community.

Richard Hurley, an attorney and leader of a local group of block associations, sent out several emails to the community about the festival.

He wrote in an Oct. 20 message that the event could bring “noise, garbage, alcohol, drugs” and “police action.”

State Assemblymember Walter Mosley (Fort Greene-Crown Heights-Clinton Hill), who had been trying to cancel the event for some time, told DNAinfo that neighbors were concerned about “quality of life issues,” like parking and the effect of “potentially intoxicated” visitors in a “residential community like Crown Heights.”

In response to the location change, Councilmember Laurie Cumbo (Crown Heights-Bedford-Stuyvesant) wrote on her Twitter page that “Today really demonstrates the success we can have as a community when we unite as one.”

Time Warp addressed the location change on its Facebook page:

“As techno fans, we are members of a global community that celebrates inclusion and equality. That spirit manifests at the local level too. Out of respect to the community of Crown Heights, we have agreed to move Time Warp US 2015 from the Bedford-Union Armory to the spectacular site of Time Warp US 2014, just 5 miles away. The dates remain the same.”

Time Warp officials issued a statement Friday afternoon saying, “We appreciate the quick efforts of the city toward making the move possible, and look forward to working with the local teams that helped make last year such a resounding success.”

The new location is only 15 minutes away from the original location and is still easily accessible by public transportation.

Chris Mumfold, a raver from Cleveland, Ohio, praised Time Warp’s handling of the situation in a Facebook comment on the Time Warp page.

“Time Warp made the correct decision,” Mumfold wrote. “Rather than run the risk of getting shut down due to the local yokels, moving it to a venue that had success and acceptance is a no brainer to avoid the whole show ending in ruin and getting bad publicity. The [39th Street Pier] last year was dope… and the party went off without a hitch.

“This is the safest option to prevent thousands of angry ticket holders wanting money back from a show that was shut down, as well as DJ’s not wanting to return and Time Warp possibly never coming back to the US,” he added.

 


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