Toxic Chemicals Shut Halloween Bash At Brooklyn Superfund Site, Officials Call For Probe
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Thousands of party goers were turned away Halloween night when a popular pop-up event promotions company has to shut down their highly-anticipated electronic dance music bash due to its toxic location.
Party promotion company Cityfox selected to throw their 'Halloween Experience' bash at the former Nuhart Plastic Manufacturing Plant in Brooklyn -- a government-designated Superfund cleanup site.
According to Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, cleanup of the Greenpoint industrial site has not even started yet. All of the contaminates in the building have not yet been thoroughly identified.
Superfund sites are places designated for government cleanup due to harmful pollutants or toxic contamination.
Cityfox said in a post on the event's Facebook page that they were unaware of the building's history when they started work on the event and that they received permits before the event started.
"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," Cityfox said in the post.
Cityfox cancelled the party fifteen minutes before its scheduled midnight opening, after FDNY marshals declared the location unsafe.
Lentol is calling for state officials to investigate the permit process for pop-up parties like this one.
According to Lentol, Cityfox was able to get New York City Department of Buildings and State Liquor Authority permits in just a few days leading up to the event.
The abandoned industrial site bash was supposed to host around 3,500 people, with tickets costing between $50 and $80 dollars.
According to Cityfox's Facebook post, they company is now working with their outside ticket sales vendor to provide refunds to attendees.
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