According to NYC Department of Buildings Commissioner James Oddo, The Brooklyn Mirage couldn’t open due to “a list of legitimate issues.”
When The Brooklyn Mirage canceled its May 1 grand reopening party mere hours before it was set to begin, its team claimed in a statement that the venue was “show ready” and merely didn’t meet an inspection deadline. The NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) has now hit back, arguing that a host of safety oversights prevented it from opening on schedule.
In an August 5 statement, DOB Commissioner James Oddo dismissed the notion that bureaucratic hurdles were all that stood in the way of The Brooklyn Mirage operating as planned. “The way all this has unfolded is quite unfortunate,” he said. “But let’s be crystal clear: [DOB] did an outstanding job of protecting New Yorkers from entering a structure that was unsafe.”
The Brooklyn Mirage had its Temporary Place of Assembly Certificate of Operation revoked two days prior to the grand reopening event. And the DOB says that the issues didn’t end there.
“DOB had numerous objections to the performance space, both safety related and technical in nature, that prevented the project from being code-compliant and safe enough to open for the public,” said a spokesperson. “This wasn’t a question of red tape, but rather a list of legitimate issues with the constructed space.”
The DOB found that The Brooklyn Mirage had not been designed to withstand heavy wind or earthquakes, and the truss over the stage was unstable as it had not been built to plan. Nor were there sufficient fire sprinklers, exit stairwells, or even toilets.
The Brooklyn Mirage has not gone through with a single one of its scheduled events in 2025. Its parent company, Avant Gardner, recently appointed HARD Founder Gary Richards as its new CEO before declaring chapter 11 bankruptcy.
It remains to be seen whether The Brooklyn Mirage can reopen in any meaningful capacity after Avant Gardner restructures its operations.
