Knockown Center hosts porn event [NSFW]

It was a very interesting Friday night in Maspeth last week...

Here we are at the Knockdown Center. Approaching the venue, it looks innocent enough.

Nice sized crowd. This looks like it may be one of those wholesome educational activities that Maspeth has been promised by the guy that owns this place.

Oh, wait, no... "Hedonists". That word popped up a lot in online references to this event.

And there we are. The original photo was NOT blurred.

It's funny how Dizzy Lizzy Crowley never mentioned "porn" while lobbying for this place to get a liquor license.

As per Crowley and the folks that run the place, we were supposed to be getting an "arts center" along the lines of PS1 and MoMA. When are these types of events scheduled at those institutions? I keep missing them.

Originally, I figured the mention of BJs in the bathroom referred to something depicted in the slideshow.

But then I discovered that this place only has one built bathroom. So who knows what goes on inside it?

Ladies, would you feel comfortable sharing this space with young men drinking alcohol?


Aaaand this photo brings up an interesting question. Since the place is still under construction, it needs a temporary place of assembly permit to host large crowds of people. So which pencil pusher at DOB thought it was okay to allow them to keep gigantic boulders in the aisles, blocking the paths of egress?

And they plan to have the boulders sitting there during next week's rap concerts, which are expected to draw 5x the number of attendees. From Bushwick Daily:

Upcoming art shows include “Sound and Fury,” an exhibition of large scale sculpture works by Joel Shapiro, Richard Nonas and more, curated by Clocktower Gallery...The show will be up and running during the MIA show, allowing for a very unique opportunity for concert and rave goers to interact with fine art sculptures.

Interact? How about break their necks? And management swore up and down to CB5 that they would never have a "rave" event at the Knockdown Center. So much for that.

From the Queens Chronicle:

Meanwhile, the temporary liquor permits the center sought for the two concerts to be played by popular Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A., scheduled for May 8 and 9, were denied by the SLA.

Thank goodness for small favors!

After nearly 30 minutes of testimony and questioning, the State Liquor Authority decided to give the operators of the Knockdown Center, the controversial arts and events venue at 52-19 Flushing Ave. in Maspeth, until the close of business on April 29 to submit additional paperwork concerning security at large events.

The facility is also seeking a permit to host up to 5,000 people at a time.

A vote on the center’s liquor license application will occur at the agency’s next board meeting, on May 6.

Terrence Flynn, the attorney representing the Knockdown Center at the hearing, asked for an adjournment from the board to allow more time for the center’s owners to formulate a comprehensive security report and to allow for a meeting with the 104th Precinct.

“I would ask to leave the record open for two weeks to provide a complete security report and to have a meeting with the precinct,” Flynn said. “If we can control the numbers of people that at these events, then we can satisfy the community’s and precinct’s concerns.”

Area civic activist Christina Wilkinson testified that young children are believed to be living at the center illegally, an allegation which Flynn denied.

“I know of no children occupying this building at all,” he said.

Records reveal that complaints about illegal occupancy have been lodged since 2011, but the owner has not responded to requests for inspection.

And this place has been hosting events since 2012 and just decided to come up with a comprehensive security plan? And everyone is supposed to be okay with that, I suppose.

God help us all.