285 KENT

285 KENT was an "underground," all ages concert venue located at 269-289 Kent Avenue, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City.^[1] The venue was founded and operated by Todd Patrick aka "Todd P", beginning in 2010,^[2] ultimately closing in 2014 to much fanfare and media coverage.^[3][4][5][6] The venue was initially booked and exclusively managed by Patrick, later in partnership with Ric Leichtung, who created the event promotion entity AdHoc.fm, an offshoot of a music journalism website of the same name, to book the venue.^[7]

285 KENT operated under the DIY ethos and hosted acclaimed concerts and events spanning indie, punk, hip hop, electronic music, and other genres.^[8] The venue strictly hosted only all ages events at affordable ticket prices.^[9][10] 285 KENT held a standing-room only capacity of approximately 400 persons.^[9]

During its relatively brief tenure, Patrick and Leichtung sought to book 285 KENT to expand the community for DIY events beyond its traditional privileged, white, and straight audience;^[11] by seeking performances and partnerships with artists and event organizers representing LBGTQ+ communities^[12][13] and people of color.^[11] The venue hosted influential events such as the queer youth club night series "TOP 8,"^[14] multiple performances by Chicago Footwork pioneer DJ Rashad,^[15] Blood Orange,^[16] Mykki Blanco,^[17] Grimes;^[17] and secret shows by artists such as hip hop collective Odd Future,^[18] queer R&B artist Frank Ocean,^[19] Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky,^[20] and others.

Previous to the opening of 285 KENT, the same unit housed the earlier creative spaces Bohemian Grove, a short-lived underground venue for electronic music events (operated by John Barclay who would later open the boutique Bushwick electronic music venue Bossa Nova Civic Club);^[21][17] and Paris London West Nile, a live/work loft and avant music and performance arts venue occupied communally by several artists and musicians.^[22]

The Paris London West Nile collective became the first to lease the unit shortly after its creation through partitioning of a larger warehouse, via association with artist and composer Zeljko McMullen, who worked as an artist's assistant to the musician Lou Reed. Reed and McMullen initially scouted the location and negotiated a lease to house a work studio for Reed, with McMullen taking the lease after Reed declined to occupy the space.^[23]

The larger warehouse 285 KENT occupied also housed the creative arts venues Death By Audio, Glasslands Gallery, Ran Tea House,^[24] Windmill Studios,^[25] the Muse,^[26] IndieScreen,^[27] and the Glasshouse Gallery,^[28] among others. The building's community of creative venue spaces were displaced in 2014 and 2015 by Vice Media, who acquired a lease on the majority of the building to house their headquarters.^[29] The building was constructed originally as a satellite structure to the historic Domino Sugar Refinery complex, located directly across Kent Avenue to the West.^[30]