public records

public records occupies a former Brooklyn ASPCA headquarters at 233 Butler Street, beside the Gowanus Canal. Designed in 1913 by Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker, the building became the venue when it opened in March 2019. Its founders are Francis Harris, Shane Davis and Erik VanderWal. Harris directs music programming and founded the labels Scissor & Thread and Kingdoms. VanderWal oversees hospitality, drawing on past work with Keith McNally and Think Food Group; Davis leads design and creative direction and founded the hospitality strategy firm whitebox collective.

The venue has a record bar, a performance room, and a vegan café and magazine shop, alongside spaces called the Sound Room, The Atrium, Cafe Public, UPSTAIRS and The Nursery. The bar features record collectors and rare vinyl, while the performance space hosts live acts and vinyl-focused DJs. Music programming also includes DJ sets and experimental jazz performances. Its custom sound systems in the bar and Sound Room came out of work with OJAS founder Devon Turnbull and the former VOID engineer Jason Ojeda, and Turnbull designed the four-corner speaker system in the Sound Room, which seats up to 200. Each room has a custom-built Isonoe rotary mixer. ARUP oversaw acoustics, and Brooklyn-based Nitemind designed and built the lighting. Capacity is about 300.

Artists who have performed at the venue include Roni Size, Daedelus, Drum & Lace and Tommy Value. The Sound Room closed during the pandemic and reopened on September 17, 2021.