A Shooting At The Production Lounge?

February 14, 2009 by
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic 

bulletholes

This email comes courtesy of R.C.:

Hey Miss Heather

Thought you may like a little play by play of what the heck is happening out my window at this very moment.

Its 3:47 am.. and I was awaken by something that sounded like gun shots out my front window.
I was quickly shaken out of my bed and my thought was gun shots???? But why. Then I remembered instantly, OH PRODUCTION LOUNGE!

Sure enough, a small commotion was brewing outside.. people moving around quickly and fighting or trying to get away inside the “amazing bar” that has fallen upon our neighborhood. I noticed someone locking the door and keeping its patrons inside the bar, not letting anyone out. I instantly thought this is not going to be good. Cops show up, not with lights on nor sirens , about 5 cars and the place starts to flood out… cops direct the flow of people that were all exiting the bar away from Kent street direction and back towards Greenpoint Avenue on Franklin.

I thought I was dreaming when I heard “the shots” but I obviously was not when the presence of cops showed up outside my home ( I live on the same block as this shit den of a bar)  and started to filter the lovely patrons of “P-LO” as I like to call this humble establishment away.

Its 3:53 now and the block is barricaded by cruisers on either side of this block on Franklin. From what I heard to what is now happening outside seems like yes maybe they were shots fired but no arrests or heavy breakouts resumed. Some people did run away  at the moment I started watching and taping (yes I captured footage of this on my mini HD camera) this incident at the P-LO But now the block is barricaded by 10 or so cops…

The cops are now walking around the block with flashlights looking for something?? gun shot shells maybe?

What ever this is going on we need to close this place down for good! It’s revolting and not what Franklin Street is about.

I guess its officially a crime scene when police tape is surrounding the entrances to the block  on either end now.

A few cops are walking back and forth the block..flashlight in hand.

4:15 a.m
Cops walking around still. nothing seems to be urgent. talking on and off with who I think is one of the owners of this place.

Let us hope that this is the end of this place. But I fear it wont be…

The P-Lo needs to go!!!

So just thought I would let you know about whats happening and ask you how the heck do we shut down this HELLHOLE that has plagued our quiet hood.

This isn’t the only email I got on the subject of this shooting either. Tony writes:

i heard 6 gunshots last night at 2:30 am from my place on Kent street.

i called 911. didn’t venture outside. NYPD just called me and asked if i had any other info.

they said a woman got shot on the corner of Kent Street & Franklin but that she’s going to be okay.

this is fucked up.

I can hardly wait to see how they spin this one at the next 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting.

Miss Heather

Photographer’s (my) Note: This is 158 Franklin Street. The bullet that penetrated the front door managed to go through a second door in the interior of this domicile and lodged itself in a wall. I have it on good intelligence that bullets managed to find their way to the second floor of this residence as well. One destroyed a hat hanging on a rack (better the hat than the wearer, I suppose). It should also be noted that the owner of this house just finished renovating it from top to bottom. Now it has a few bullet holes to give it that “gritty” “urban” feel.

UPDATE: Apparently this matter has found its way onto Yelp;

While this place has been drawing my snarky ire since it opened for myriad reasons (laughable decor, seeming utter distain for the idea of a unified neighborhood fabric, loud, raucous club nights exhibiting contemptible taste levels vis-à-vis music, general waft of sadness and desperation, etc., etc.), I always considered it unfortunate joke that would be quickly and deservedly shuttered. But last night things took a much more serious turn…

You can read the rest by clicking here.* (A special thanks goes out to Greenpointless for bringing this to my attention.)

*NO YOU CAN’T: Yelp has pulled the posts.

Comments

11 Comments on A Shooting At The Production Lounge?

  1. Greenpointless on Sat, 14th Feb 2009 11:38 am
  2. I was shocked when I walked by this morning. A cop told me they’d found 17 bullets so far. I couldn’t find anything on the news but I found this on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-production-lounge-brooklyn?rpp=40&sort_by=date_desc

    (It’s the review from today.)

  3. Rob on Sat, 14th Feb 2009 12:16 pm
  4. Let us all pray this is one of those 80% of food and drink industry places that closes within its first year. All their business comes from those ghastly overloud private parties. Which we now know are not just a nuisance but a safety issue.

  5. bitchcakes on Sat, 14th Feb 2009 12:46 pm
  6. Silly me, when I saw the title I actually thought you meant a ‘filming’. This is unimaginable!

  7. Tony From Kent Street on Sat, 14th Feb 2009 4:04 pm
  8. What bothers me the most is that all the violence that erupts from this place and Club Exit are NOT the people who live in this neighborhood. Hipsters and the Polish generally don’t shoot people. Anything we can do to get this dump shut down?

  9. Jay on Sat, 14th Feb 2009 5:41 pm
  10. One email says it’s 3:47, and the other says 2:30. Is that just someone being awakened and not getting the time right, a typo, or two separate incidents?

    Anyway, I’ve been in the place twice, once just to check it out and once with a friend who wanted to see it. Both times just stayed for one drink, and there were no more than about three customers (one time was their “open mic” night, and it was still dead). Apparently it’s a completely different scene later on weekend nights, because I never would have thought it would be the place something like this would happen from my limited experience with it.

  11. walrustaco on Sat, 14th Feb 2009 11:57 pm
  12. That place looked like trouble from the beginning. This reminds me of that “Williamsburg Stabber” thing, where people were being stabbed by a machete by a man riding by on a bicycle. I have no patience for this.

  13. Tony From Kent Street on Sun, 15th Feb 2009 10:15 am
  14. not that it really matters but yes it was more like 3:30 and not 2:30. i was sick in bed and not completely coherent but i know gunfire when i hear it. it also doesn’t matter if this bar is usually empty, it’s clearly certain nights of the week, just like Club Exit when they get a specific non-local clientele and make money at the expense of the safety of locals.

    i will be at the meeting on tuesday evening. i was thinking about making some fliers to let the fine people of greenpoint know about the 17 bullets unloaded from an automatic weapon that could have easily killed any one of us this weekend and steer them in the direction of the meeting tuesday night.

    in addition to the most recent post about the couple getting robbed at gunpoint on the northside, a friend of mine witnessed a shooting on division street yesterday near kent ave./s.11

    i’m amazed that none of this makes our local news.

  15. notme on Sun, 15th Feb 2009 10:31 am
  16. Frustrated Greenpointers can file a complaint with the New York State Liquor Authority:

    http://www.trans.abc.state.ny.us/JSP/complaintreg/ComplaintRegistryPage.jsp

    Or send a letter to the company that owns this property:

    Guard General Merchandise Co
    565 Plandome Rd, Manhasset, NY

    Or, if you’d like to visit this business, here are some upcoming events:

    http://theproductionloungeny.com/events.html

    It should be noted that you’ve missed “Punany. The Sexual Revolution Embodied.” last night. But, perhaps the management would host the event again if there’s a groundswell of community interest.

  17. Jay on Sun, 15th Feb 2009 5:17 pm
  18. Just want to make clear, especially for Tony, that my comment shouldn’t be taken as meaning I doubted any part of the story. I just wanted to clarify the time and as I mentioned confirm whether there was more than one incident. My comment about always seeing it empty also wasn’t disputing any of this, just observing that it surprised me from my limited (and out of date) experiences at the place.

    Anyway, some more info: apparently one person did all the shooting, after having been ejected from the place through an exit on Kent. He had been involved in an incident inside and that at least was caught by the security cameras. I don’t know whether there are any cameras on the street around that corner, but at least the police should have a decent description based on the video and witnesses from that incident inside.

  19. petal on Mon, 16th Feb 2009 8:45 pm
  20. A bullet also went through a second-floor window at 158 Franklin. Fortunately, it didn’t hit any of the people who live there.

    […] It was standing room only, OG residents and hipster newcomers, everyone concerned about one thing: the 2/14 shooting incident at the Production Lounge, and the bar in general, as it’s been widely regarded in the neighborhood as troublesome from […]

Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • NYS Flickr Pool

    The One CrewSnowy SeagullsWalking the Dog in the Snow
  • Ads