After roughly 1,500 ticket-holders stormed the gates of Electric Zoo music festival this past Sunday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has suggested that the city will take action against its organizers—the same investment group behind popular Brooklyn venue Avant Gardner.
“It’s unfortunate that the organizers wanted to turn our city into a zoo, and we were not going to allow that to happen,” Adams said in an NYPD briefing yesterday. “And we will be dealing with them in the next few days based on their behavior and actions.”
The NYPD has estimated that organizers oversold Electric Zoo’s capacity of 42,500 attendees by 7,000 tickets on Sunday.
Sunday’s pandemonium followed other logistical nightmares for Electric Zoo, which was forced to cancel its first day just a few hours before it was scheduled to open.
Organizers cited “global supply chain disruptions” as the reason their main stage wasn’t built in time for the first day. Electric Zoo went ahead on Saturday, but it was delayed by three hours, with many attendees stuck in will-call lines for so long they gave up trying to attend.
Comments on Instagram posts claimed attendees passed out in the will call lines given the lack of access to water.
On Sunday, organizers announced that the festival had reached capacity and that ticket holders who were not already inside would be turned away, causing outrage from fans that led to dangerous conditions.
Electric Zoo issued a statement that reads: “The vast majority of Electric Zoo attendees had a great experience, but our job is to make sure everyone’s experience is phenomenal. We’ll be working closely with our partners to review the planning and execution of the event from start to finish.”
The festival has announced that Friday ticket holders and those who were denied entry on Sunday will receive refunds.
Electric Zoo’s organizers, whose Avant Gardner venue houses the popular Brooklyn Mirage, have a history of overselling shows by as much as 33% according to Gothamist; and have come under scrutiny after two patrons were found dead shortly after leaving the venue.
This year’s festival marked the first year that the investment group operated Electric Zoo autonomously, after purchasing it from Made Event for a reported $15 million last year, according to Billboard.
Depending on how Mayor Adams acts in response to this debacle, Electric Zoo and Avant Gardner could be greatly affected, causing a major shakeup for nightlife in New York City.
Featured image from Electric Zoo.
