Brooklyn Mirage

Overview

Promoters Billy Bildstein (Austrian-born) and Philipp Wiederkehr's 80,000-sq-ft open-air techno and house complex, the largest club footprint in New York City history, and a big-room outdoor destination from 2017 until a failed 2025 renovation triggered bankruptcy and transformation into Pacha New York.

The Brooklyn Mirage began as a summer pop-up in 2015 at 99 Scott Avenue, where Austrian-born promoter Jürgen 'Billy' Bildstein and Swiss financier Philipp Wiederkehr launched their Cityfox Experience brand in New York, an outdoor dancefloor beneath a temporary shell, drawing roughly 5,000 per night with a lineup of Berghain-adjacent house and techno. After the 99 Scott edition closed in autumn 2015, the pair spent 2016 fighting for a permanent foothold in East Williamsburg: repeated shutdowns for fire code violations and unlicensed alcohol sales, a $60,000 lobbying investment with State & Broadway, and community board negotiations before the New York State Liquor Authority granted a permanent license in April 2017. The rebuilt Mirage, designed by architect Marc Dizon of Dizon Collective, who had also shaped Output and Marquee, opened July 1, 2017, as the outdoor centerpiece of a two-city-block Avant Gardner complex at 140 Stewart Avenue, pairing a 40,000-sq-ft open-air arena (four-story observation tower, 15,000 plants and palms, modular staging) with a converted steel-fabrication-plant warehouse (the Great Hall, capacity 2,776) and an intimate Kings Hall. The sound system (KV2 Audio's VHD 5.0 point-source rig, which debuted its US premiere here) was designed for clarity at scale, avoiding the comb-filtering of stacked line arrays. Through 2017–2024 the venue staged large-scale outdoor electronic-music programming: resident event series Afterlife (Tale of Us, Stephan Bodzin, Ben Klock) anchored September dates from 2019 onward with cinematic melodic techno; Charlotte de Witte played all-night KNTXT sets in 2022 and 2023; Carl Cox brought multi-night residencies in 2023 and 2024; Keinemusik, Black Coffee, Danny Tenaglia, and Armin van Buuren all drew sold-out crowds. In 2022 Avant Gardner acquired Electric Zoo and its promoter Made Event from LiveStyle for $15 million, extending the brand into festival territory, a move that would prove overextended when the 2023 Electric Zoo edition closed early amid vendor payment disputes. The Mirage's DJ Mag accolades (North America's Best Large Club in 2022 and 2023, ranked #17 globally in 2025) documented its commercial ascent even as critics noted the venue's trajectory from underground Cityfox sensibility toward big-room spectacle with mainstream headliners. The collapse came swiftly in 2025. Owner Billy Bildstein, backed by hedge fund Axar Capital Management (which held approximately $155 million in secured debt at 16.5% interest), commissioned a full ground-up interior redesign, a 270-degree 30K-resolution LED wall, 100+ custom L-Acoustics speakers, retractable shutter roof, 197 × 164-foot performance structure, with a planned May 1 reopening. The Department of Buildings audit on April 29 found 49 structural and safety objections; DOB Commissioner Jimmy Oddo revoked the permit hours before Sara Landry was due to headline the grand reopening. CEO Josh Wyatt was fired at a soundcheck on May 19. Avant Gardner filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 4, 2025, listing liabilities of up to $500 million against assets under $100 million. Axar's affiliate AG Acquisition 1 LLC credit-bid the entire complex for $110 million on October 22, 2025. Demolition of temporary structures at 140 Stewart began in early 2026. FIVE Holdings, the Dubai-based hospitality conglomerate that owns the Pacha brand, entered a management agreement with Axar; 'Pacha New York' received its conditional liquor license June 2, 2026 and opened June 13–14, 2026, on the same outdoor footprint, a seasonal club operating through October 2026 with capacity capped at 8,145 (5,326 outdoors, 2,819 in the renamed Brooklyn Hall). The Brooklyn Mirage as built and named by Cityfox no longer exists at the address.

Oral histories & archival media

Archive plates

Plates fill in as scans clear rights

Sonic profile

Cultural role

DJs, promoters & people

Follow a name to see other rooms they connect to

Parties & residencies

Tags

Related rooms