A third man has been found dead in Newtown Creek after attending one of several nearby dance music venues in Brooklyn, New York.
Police have identified a body found in the creek on July 30 as Damani Alexander, a 30-year-old security guard at popular Manhattan club The Box, who was last seen attending a show at Knockdown Center on July 28, according to NYC news outlet PIX11.
The city’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause of Alexander’s death and police are still investigating the incident, according to the NYPD.
Alexander’s mother, Desiree Nicholson, was initially informed by detectives that her son likely did not drown, and there were no signs of trauma on his body, she told PIX11. Nicholson also said that her son had told a friend that he was in danger prior to his death, and that investigators returned his wallet but not his phone.
The circumstances of Alexander’s death mirror two similar deaths reported in the area one year ago. In August 2023, two other young men, John Castic and Karl Clemente, were found dead in the same creek after attending events at the Brooklyn Mirage. Both deaths were ruled accidental drownings by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, and Castic’s father told local news outlets that there were no indications of foul play.
The deaths sparked discourse about safety at the nightlife venues in the largely industrial area, where venue attendees “face conditions like unlit roads and poor cell service,” Willis Elkins, executive director of the Newtown Creek Alliance, told PIX11.
New York State Senator Julia Salazar called for safety improvements in the area following Alexander’s death.
“The least we can do is make it safer in general to be in the [industrial business zone] in the dark,” she told PIX11. “How are we responding to the proliferation of nightlife in this area? How are we adapting to it? It’s not going to work to not have an organized response and way of managing it.”
Popular music venues like Avant Gardner—which houses the Brooklyn Mirage—Elsewhere and the Brooklyn Steel are also located near Newtown Creek in East Williamsburg.
Featured image from Unsplash.com.
