Brooklynites decry planned Gowanus nightclub

The Board of Standards and Appeals will hear Tuesday from a group of Gowanus residents concerned that a children’s music school coming to the neighborhood will transform into a rowdy nightclub scene after hours.

The establishment, dubbed the Rock and Roll Playhouse, is being developed by Peter Shapiro, the proprietor of Brooklyn Bowl and developer of the $2 million revamp of Capitol Theater in Westchester County. Shapiro is renovating the warehouse at 280 Bond Street, between Degraw and Sackett streets, into a music school by day and a venue for adults by night, according to DNAinfo.

A group called We Are Gowanus, is worried the Playhouse will keep residents in adjoining units up at night, serving drinks and hosting live music.

Last year, We Are Gowanus sued the Department of Buildings, saying the city agency failed to investigate the venue before granting it a building permit. The group claims the project was always just a nightclub masquerading as a “playhouse.”

Residents are adamant the planned playhouse have its zoning variance, which allows “non-conforming use,” revoked.

“This is the wrong use for the wrong location,” Katya Jestin, a Gowanus resident, told DNAinfo. [DNAinfo] — Angela Hunt