Brooklyn Bowl

Overview

A 23,000-square-foot former iron foundry converted into Williamsburg's most durable live-music anchor, 16 bowling lanes alongside a 900-capacity hall, a Blue Ribbon kitchen, and an eclectic calendar rooted in the Wetlands Preserve lineage of its co-founders.

Brooklyn Bowl grew out of a thought experiment rather than a love of bowling. Peter Shapiro and Charley Ryan, who had run Wetlands Preserve in TriBeCa from 1996 until 9/11 forced its closure in 2001, spent years searching for a Williamsburg space capable of holding the same community-minded, genre-agnostic programming ethos. They found it walking past the derelict Hecla Iron Works at 61 Wythe Avenue, a landmark 23,000-square-foot cast-iron foundry built in 1892 (with additions in 1896–97) by Scandinavian entrepreneurs Neils Poulson and Charles Eger, which had fabricated 133 of the original New York City Subway entrance kiosks before the 1904 opening. The Cornfeld family (ABC Properties) financed a roughly $6 million renovation, and the venue opened July 7, 2009, during the depths of the financial crisis, a bet that paid off; the inaugural concert on July 10 featured O'Death, Justin Carter, Eamon Harkin, and Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt. The sustainable build was deliberate: Brooklyn Bowl became the world's first LEED-certified bowling alley, powered by 100% wind electricity, with a concert stage laid over recycled truck tires, LED fixtures using 90% less energy than standard lamps, glass reclaimed from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and floorboards salvaged from the original ironworks. The food-and-beverage program was treated with comparable seriousness, Blue Ribbon Restaurants operates the kitchen, specializing in fried chicken and Southern dishes, while the bar pours exclusively Brooklyn-brewed draught beer (the venue reported as the city's biggest seller of Brooklyn-based beer by 2010). The 16 bowling lanes accommodate up to 200 bowlers nightly and are quieted by acoustic engineering so as not to bleed into the 900-capacity hall. Programming has always been deliberately wide: jam bands, hip-hop, reggae, Latin, jazz, family matinees, and drag brunches share the calendar. The signature anchor was Questlove's Bowl Train, a Thursday-night residency launched at opening in 2009 and sustained for seven years and 300-plus performances, playing soul, hip-hop, and rare grooves against a backdrop of classic Soul Train footage, with guest sets from Talib Kweli, Nancy Whang (LCD Soundsystem), and Binky Griptite. Underplays over the years have included Adele, M.I.A., Lauryn Hill, Childish Gambino, Guns N' Roses (a surprise 2013 set), Paul Simon, and Snoop Dogg. Bill Clinton held a Clinton Foundation benefit in 2010 and a Hillary Clinton presidential fundraiser in February 2016. Stud Country (a queer line-dancing and two-stepping party founded by Bailey Salisbury and Sean Monaghan) has hosted monthly events at the venue since 2021. In 2017 Pollstar ranked Brooklyn Bowl the #1 busiest club in New York City and #7 worldwide by ticket sales, and Rolling Stone called it 'one of the most incredible places on Earth.' Shapiro's broader company, Dayglo Presents (established 2010), folded Brooklyn Bowl into a growing portfolio that includes Relix Magazine, the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, and the LOCKN' Festival. A Live Nation partnership in 2019 enabled expansion to Las Vegas, Nashville (June 2020), and Philadelphia (November 2021); a London location opened in 2014 and closed in January 2017; a Washington D.C. outpost is slated for 2026. By its 15th anniversary the original Williamsburg room had hosted 5,000-plus shows, sold 1.2 million Brooklyn Brewery pints, and drawn roughly 350,000 annual visitors, outlasting Wetlands itself (12 years) and dozens of peer clubs that defined the 2000s Brooklyn scene.

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