Electronic Hymns at Gowanus’s Public Records

Beats pulsed like a throbbing heartbeat thrashing a metallic hymn. Strobes entrapped dancing bodies in an electrified robotic stutter. And Public Records’ hi-fi quadraphonic Sound Room transported Brooklyn’s rapidly gentrifying Gowanus neighborhood into a world-class nightspot.

Steps from the Gowanus Canal, one of New York City’s most polluted waterways and a federal Superfund site, Public Records quickly established itself as a go-to NYC destination for electronic music. During the day its airy coffee shop fills with creatives working in booths and cafe tables. The magazine and record shop brims with vinyl records and audiophile stereo equipment for sale. At night, Public Records’ hip clientele sip bespoke cocktails as a DJ spins analogue records.

Public Records’ Sound Room – with its towering hi-fi speakers and psychedelic light system – attracts the late-night crowd. World-class DJs hold court over their kingdom of rhythm. Their edicts of groove radiate from spinning turntables into the undulating room and into the neighborhood’s industrial night.