Community News
DMNDR Gets New Music
Venue Approved
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I JUNE 2018 23
BY JENNA BAGCAL Plans for a new music
and cultural venue in
Long Island City, accommodating
up to
2,070 people standing,
received support from Community Board
1 during the advisory body's meeting on
Tuesday night in Astoria.
John Belitsky founder of DMNDR
(pronounced "demander") proposed
the plan to build The Arc at 36-30 36th
St. in Long Island City. The space is a
20,000-square-foot former sushi restaurant
that Belitsky plans to convert into a
performance and concert hall combined
with a "hermetically sealed" recording
studio for musicians and artists to use
24 hours a day.
“We’re thrilled that we have community
board approval to realize our vision
for The Arc as a first-class performance
venue, recording studio and local cultural
center,” said Belitsky, who is a native of
South Ozone Park.
On the weekends when the space
isn't being utilized for performances, he
told the board that he plans to open up
the space to the community for master
classes, educational workshops and
general advocacy for the arts. In addition,
The Arc would also serve food
to patrons and alcohol during 21 and
older events.
Though board members raised concerns
about the potential noise levels
from late night and early morning activity,
Belitsky assured them that the plans for
the building's infrastructure would prevent
sound from being heard on the street.
Other concerns that residents
brought up were regarding the hours
in which alcohol would be served to
patrons. Belitsky said that alcoholic
beverages would only be consumed
inside the venue and would stop being
served after 2 a.m.
According to their website, DMNDR
is a community of music lovers, photographers,
filmmakers, musicians, artists,
writers, curators and creators around the
world that was formed in 2014. Their
goal is to "elevate art" which Belitsky
and other members of DMNDR hope
to achieve with The Arc.
“We’re in exciting talks with corporate
sponsors, local performing artists, community
festival organizers, film and television
producers who are interested in developing
projects with us, and with emerging
and highly acclaimed artists who want to
perform here,” he said. “We are moving
forward with a mandate from our community
to improve the creative ecosystem,
a promise we will tirelessly pursue.”
He added that he hoped all of Long
Island City would benefit from this new
development and also that it would contribute
to the growth of the local economy.
Belitsky said that he had received a lot
of positive feedback from local creatives
and residents that he spoke to when
canvassing the neighborhood. An online
petition addressed to the community
board in support of the venue amassed
280 signatures on the DMNDR website.
“The DMNDR artist community passionately
supported this important project
because they feel it is what music
and the arts need right now," Belitsky
said. "Just as importantly, we heard
from local residents who told us it’s
about time this exists in Queens, and
now it will, soon.”
Plans for the venue's construction
are underway, but no date has been set
for when the project will be completed.
Photo by Angela Matua/QNS
The DMNDR artist
community passionately
supported this important
project because they feel
it is what music and the
arts need right now.
JOHN BELITSKY
founder of DMNDR
/www.qns.com
