{"id":833441,"date":"2026-05-31T00:36:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T00:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/833441\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T00:36:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T00:36:57","slug":"pacha-new-york-gets-conditional-approval-for-temporary-liquor-license-after-thorny-meeting-with-regulators-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/833441\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacha New York gets conditional approval for temporary liquor license after thorny meeting with regulators \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

After an often-thorny two-hour meeting with the State Liquor Authority on Thursday, Pacha New York received its temporary liquor license \u2014 with conditions \u2014 setting the stage for its June 20 opening and apparently sending Avant Gardner into oblivion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For two hours at the May 29 meeting, Kabir Mulchandani, CEO of Pacha parent company FIVE Holdings and his lawyer, Max Bookman, worked to convince the SLA that the venue will not carry on the sins of its predecessor, the Brooklyn Mirage.<\/p>\n

By the time Avant Gardner went bankrupt last year, it had seen three drug overdose deaths<\/a>, dozens of SLA violations and several lawsuits. A total of 37 people wrote letters to the SLA about Pacha\u2019s application, said chair Lily Fan, detailing a laundry list of concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously \u2026 all of this has to do with the prior establishment,\u201d Fan said. \u201cThere is generally a public safety concern here.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The letters, she said, detailed issues from excessive noise to patrons yelling, littering and vomiting on local streets after leaving the venue.\u00a0
\n\"avantThe former Avant Garder site, pictured in 2023. File poto by Paul Frangipane\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have written to us about mental health issues that result from permanent loss of sleep, that people cannot open windows while the location is under operation \u2026 which is pretty serious in my mind,\u201d Fan said. \u201cThere used to be crowd management issues, vandalism issues, slashed tires, knife damage on cars.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gabriele Brody, who testified at Thursday\u2019s meeting, said she lives close enough to the site that she watched the old Mirage structure be built and demolished from her window.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be clear, I\u2019m not against nightlife, I like Bushwick and I choose to live here,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019m here because this neighborhood has families, life-long [residents], neighbors of mine, who\u2019ve all lived here, we already survived Mirage. We know what this looks like, the overflow of people \u2026 the noise that bleeds into the apartment at 2 a.m., the litter, the crowds moving through the residential streets on the way out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pacha makes its case<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t begrudge anybody who has opposed this application, given the history of this venue. We walked into this understanding that there is a deep and troubled history with this venue,\u201d Bookman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said the team hoped to show that they \u201care capable of addressing every single one of the concerns that has been raised in a verifiable, stipulated, enforceable way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mulchandani said Pacha has developed a ten-year, $27 million plan to address the issues raised by SLA commissioners and community members<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DOBThe Pacha team said they understood why community members were concerned about the venue, given the history of the Brooklyn Mirage. File photo courtesy of Chris Lavado\/ShoreFire Media<\/p>\n

He said a new Wi-Fi hotspot, free shuttle buses and temporary lights on busy sidewalks will ensure patrons can get home safely, and that crews will clean up some local streets after large events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pacha\u2019s total capacity will be slightly less than Mirage\u2019s, he said, and tracked with a live digital capacity meter. The venue\u2019s past management, he said, ignored capacity levels and frequently had thousands more people inside than were technically allowed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The team said Pacha will be equipped with around 175 security cameras and more than 70 security guards, who will be stationed both inside and outside the venue and near Newtown Creek, where three people \u2014 including two Mirage patrons \u2014 have drowned<\/a> in the last few <\/a>years.<\/p>\n

Patrons will enter through AI-powered security scanners, he said, which can ID items like knives or firearms. People flagged by the system will be searched individually.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"newtownPacha will have security guards stationed near Newtown Creek, where three people have drowned since 2023. File photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n

In response to Fan\u2019s concerns about narcotics, Mulchandani said bag checks will be in place. Drugs will not be permitted in the venue, and anyone previously banned from the Mirage for bringing in narcotics will still be banned from Pacha.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The venue will have an in-house infirmary and a private ambulance, he said, drawing some concern from Fan.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start having private ambulances, your own infirmary, your own doctors on-site, what may happen is there is no disclosure,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we can talk about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2021, a 23-year-old named Genesis Reynoso died after overdosing at the Mirage. Her death was not reported to the SLA, partially because she was taken to the hospital by a private ambulance contracted by the venue, according to Gothamist<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pacha has also been outfitted with pricey acoustic walls, he said, to help tamp down on sound in the neighborhood.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beauty is I could reduce the volume,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, you know, if somebody\u2019s getting disturbed, we tested the system at full capacity. If we can\u2019t run it at full capacity, we drop it down to a level at which the community is respected and the business works.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"areaAround 100,000 people live within a mile of the venue. File photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n

But local Brett Allan told the board that Pacha was testing its sound systems the night before the hearing, and that he could hear it loud and clear from his apartment, even with the windows shut and the air conditioner on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw the improvements the applicants wish to make, and I do believe they\u2019re actually going to be making their best efforts to mitigate, but at the end of the day it\u2019s a massive outdoor amphitheater,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to contain bass waves, which are the most persistent thing that cut through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mulchandani, in response, said the team had videos of the sound testing Allan referred to, and said the noise was there \u201ceven before we came to the space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of sound in the area, our sound could not be heard,\u201d he said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

SLA lays out liquor license conditions<\/b><\/p>\n

After nearly two hours, Fan said she would approve the license, with a long list of conditions, including formalizing its commitments to providing free buses, phone chargers and keeping Narcan on hand at the venue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pacha must have a walkthrough of the venue with elected officials, local community boards, and every person who wrote in to the SLA with concerns. That walkthrough is scheduled for June 8.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The venue can only host one show per night, with exceptions for some holiday weekends, and can only sell to capacity, without the usual built in 20% no-show rate. From Sunday to Wednesday, music has to end by 2 a.m., and the venue has to be empty by 2:30 a.m., with longer hours, until 4 a.m., Thursday through Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fireworks are banned late at night, Fan said, and Pacha will have to supply its Department of Buildings and FDNY certifications to the SLA. The venue has received a Certificate of Occupancy and a Temporary Place of Assembly Certificate of Operation, which comes into effect on June 1, records show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"pacha\"A rendering of Pacha\u2019s interior. Image courtesy of Pacha New York<\/p>\n

The venue must provide a live complaint hotline, she said, and keep a monthly log of ticket sales, volume complaints, safety incidents, and capacity levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those things you\u2019re going to put in a report that you will keep, but that you will provide to the [SLA] when the [permanent] license application comes up,\u201d Fan said.<\/p>\n

It also can\u2019t use the Mirage name for any reason, she said, and must make an effort to stop third-party promoters or ticket sellers from using it.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

SLA co-commissioners Edgar De Leon and John Maya voted to approve the temporary license with conditions.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that this works out. Obviously, you know that we have enforcement, and we, I\u2019m sure, are going to check on how things are going in an undisclosed way,\u201d De Leon said. \u201cBut I really hope that this works out. I really commend the efforts that you\u2019ve made to turn things around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fan sent Mulchandani and Bookman on their way with a final warning.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the sound pollution is very severe, I\u2019m going to ask you to build a building there,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can probably afford it \u2026 I believe in you guys, I just don\u2019t know if we need an outdoor club at this particular place where 100,000 people live in a one-mile radius, and if I go to a two-mile radius, probably 300,000 people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After an often-thorny two-hour meeting with the State Liquor Authority on Thursday, Pacha New York received its temporary…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":833442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,88679,341772,1121,88680,1086,1230,138972,341773,57493,341774,336,341775,27181,341776,38612,405,403,50,2295,5226,5225,12079,165560,5228,5227,28276,223144,303628,341777,5292,3229,5266,341778,87363,229691,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-833441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-avant-gardner","tag-brett-allan","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-mirage","tag-conditions","tag-drugs","tag-east-williamsburg","tag-gabriele-brody","tag-hearing","tag-kabir-mulchandani","tag-lawsuits","tag-lily-fan","tag-liquor-license","tag-max-bookman","tag-meeting","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-nightlife","tag-noise-complaints","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-overdose","tag-pacha","tag-pacha-new-york","tag-partying","tag-public-safety","tag-regulation","tag-restrictions","tag-shuttle-buses","tag-sla","tag-state-liquor-authority","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}