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Angry Crown Heights Residents Are Trying to Shut Down Time Warp in New York

UPDATE : The two-day festival has moved locations to Pier 39 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, following concerns from local residents.

UPDATE [Friday, November 13]: According to a tweet and Facebook post from Time Warp's official accounts, the two-day festival has moved locations to a warehouse space in Pier 39, located in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Time Warp was slated to take place at the Bedford-Union Armory in Crown Heights, but faced resistance from the local community, who were concerned about traffic, noise, and other quality of life issues.

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In a statement posted on their Facebook event page, the festival wrote:

As techno fans, we are members of a global community that celebrates inclusion and equality. That spirit manifests at the local level too. Out of respect to the community of Crown Heights, we have agreed to move Time Warp US 2015 from the Bedford Union Armory to the spectacular site of Time Warp US 2014, just 5 miles away. The dates remain the same.

The statement was reiterated on the festival's Twitter account:

Time Warp US 2015 will take place at Pier 39, the massive home of — Time Warp (@Time_Warp)November 13, 2015

In an act of techno deja vu, this echoes the experience the festival had last year, when it was forced to move from its original location, the Knighstbridge Armory in the Bronx, to Pier 39 after the festival failed to secure necessary permits.


Less than three weeks before it's slated to hit Brooklyn, the future of Time Warp, a massive two-day techno festival due to take place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn on November 20 and 21, might be in jeopardy. Citing quality of life issues like parking and "potentially intoxicated" people wandering around the residential neighborhood, local leaders and residents have been pushing the city to cancel the event. As Assembly member Walter Mosley put it to DNAinfo, "This is something that residents of north Crown Heights were extremely concerned about."

Time Warp US 2015 will take place at Pier 39, the massive home of — Time Warp (@Time_Warp)November 13, 2015

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Time Warp US 2015 will take place at Pier 39, the massive home of — Time Warp (@Time_Warp)November 13, 2015

Time Warp began in Mannheim, Germany in 1994 and has become a stronghold of European techno, with previous editions in cities like Berlin, Prague, and Vienna. This year marks its second foray into the United States, with a robust lineup of headliners including Ricardo Villalobos, Seth Troxler b2b Jamie Jones, Black Coffee, Apollonia, Sven Väth, and Len Faki.

Time Warp in New York is supposed to go down at the majestic Bedford-Union Armory in Crown Heights. But whether or not it will happen depends on who you ask. According to Mosley's office, they received a reply from the Department of Citywide Administrative Services—which oversees operations at the armory—that they will "not [be] moving forward with the event." However, DNAinfo reports that a spokeswoman from DCAS says they are still "reviewing the application," while Time Warp reps confirmed that they have secured the proper approvals and that the festival will go on as planned.

This is not the first time that Time Warp has hit snags in the US. Last year, it had to move from the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx to the 39th Street Pier in Sunset Park after it failed to secure proper permits for the original space.

Other New York raves have also recently butted heads with locals; The Cityfox Experience's Halloween party was shut down amidst a furor involving toxic waste and incensed Greenpoint residents, while a celebrity-studded party in a former piano factory in the Bronx was accused of gross insensitivity towards the economically depressed neighborhood due to props like bullet-ridden cars and burning trash cans.

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