Cityfox NY offers apologetic statement regarding the cancellation of Halloween eventCh Cityfo

Cityfox NY offers apologetic statement regarding the cancellation of Halloween event

To many fans’ dismay, The Cityfox Experience was unable to come to fruition on Halloween eve following a day-of inspection by New York’s fire department. The coveted holiday party, scheduled to take place at the former NuHart Plastics factory in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, was officially shut down at 11:45pm on Saturday night. Despite Reynard Productions’ (the company behind The Cityfox Experience) successful run this past summer with its transitory venue, The Brooklyn Mirage, the event producer ran into a number of unexpected obstacles just as 20 Clay St was slated to open its doors.

Three days after the fact, Cityfox has released an official statement explaining their side of the story and that, contrary to common belief, they were not aware of the venue’s history as a superfund site. Read their full statement below:

Dear All,

As we all know, this past Halloween in Brooklyn did not go as planned. We can only imagine that some of you are not only disappointed, but angry. We in no way seek to dismiss your disappointment or anger; this was a highly anticipated holiday event for which you’d planned, chose over other events, that many of you booked travel for from not only around the U.S., but from abroad, it was a destination event. We can only offer our most sincere and regretful apologies. We also owe an explanation.

One of the more challenging steps in producing The Cityfox Experience is selecting the venue. A venue must not only meet the logistical requirements for a given plan, but meet permitting requirements per the Department of Buildings (DOB) for the issuance of a Temporary Place of Assembly certificate (TPA). Upon being introduced to the venue planned for Saturday night, we did a walk through with the landlord, assessed it, and were instructed on which portions of the block sized building we could use. We were not made aware of anything that might prevent the event from going forward, and we began to envision how it’d come together. The first thing we requested of our architect, as we do with all potential spaces, was to check the building for any violations in the DOB records that might cause the denial of a TPA. There was one minor heating related violation that was not applicable, and so we moved forward with designing the space and filing for permits. Our crew created a production plan, we moved in all of our equipment, and built out the space and make it a true Experience. All permits were issued and on Saturday night, it was ready to go.

As is customary, the FDNY arrived Saturday evening to conduct their inspection, which was different than any we’ve had in the past. They raised several permit related issues which we either addressed, offered to address, or pointed out were invalid per building code or the TPA that was issued. Ultimately, the FDNY marshals stated that they would not allow the event to go forward, though never gave us an official written reason as they are mandated to do, and we’re currently in the process of requesting. But given their stance and concerns about the building that had come to light, at 11:45pm, we canceled the event.

We’ve seen a number of media pieces conveying speculation and erroneous information, including about fabrics used in our production. However, we were compliant with all permitting or ready and able to address any cocnerns, used certified flame resistant fabrics, and we were issued no summons for violations. We’re obviously now aware of the building’s history and that it is the source of deep community concern, concerns that we take very seriously, but which also caught us by surprise. We were not aware during the event production when we expended a tremendous amount of time and resources to transform the space.

Our guiding principle is to create the best attendee Experience that is possible, and our purpose singular: to showcase some of house music’s finest artists in a setting that brings you a night of escape, happiness, and fond memories. Anyone familiar with what we create knows the care we take, the amount of thought and effort paid to every last detail to maximize your enjoyment. Here, the very opposite occurred. Thus, we are gutted, less at the circumstances in which we find ourselves, though very difficult, and more that we have let you down, well aware of the circumstances in which you found yourselves. The reason for this cancellation was not something we could have foreseen, but is ultimately our responsibility. At this time, we ask not for forgiveness, but for understanding. We will make it up to you, eager to win back the trust that had created such anticipation to begin with.

We’ve been working with Resident Advisor on how to issue refunds for tickets purchased to all who request within the next two weeks. Please follow these steps:
• Visit RA customer support page here:http://www.residentadvisor.net/contact.aspx?e=8
• Ensure you are logged in to account with which you bought tickets
• Select “Ticketing support”
• Select the Cityfox Halloween ticket order
• Select “I want a refund”
• Once your refund request has been submitted, RA will return funds as soon as possible, all refund requests will be honored.
• Be aware that depending on your bank, refunds may take up to 7 working days to be credited to your account.

Thank you for your time,
Team Cityfox

Via: Resident Advisor

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