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New York City · Venue

Public Records

A compact Gowanus room built around sound, with a former ASPCA headquarters as its setting.

Upcoming shows
30
Capacity
200
Address
233 Butler Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Next show
Thu, 8 Oct 2026
Official siteDirections
Public Records in New York City

About Public Records

Public Records is a 200-capacity music venue in Gowanus, Brooklyn, built into the former ASPCA headquarters at 233 Butler Street. Its distinguishing feature is a campus model: the focused Sound Room sits alongside The Atrium restaurant and music lounge, Cafe Public, the UPSTAIRS listening bar, and The Nursery, an open-air plant-filled event space. For a show, that means a club-scale crowd with several places to reset before or after the set.

An animal shelter becomes a Sound Room

The building’s earlier life gives Public Records its unusual frame. It opened in 1913 as the ASPCA’s Brooklyn headquarters and animal shelter; the site served Brooklyn pet adopters until the shelter closed in 1979. Public Records’ founders, DJ-producer Francis Harris and partners Shane Davis and Erik VanderWal, announced their conversion of the address into a venue, hi-fi bar and vegan cafe in February 2019. Their opening plan hit a dated snag: bureaucratic delays moved the first weekend’s programmed gigs to Knockdown Center. Public Records then opened in April 2019, turning former shelter spaces into a connected music destination. The old cat sunroom became part of the arrival sequence, while the Sound Room supplied the dedicated stage for DJs and live acts. That adaptive reuse, coupled with a plant-based food program that nods to the building’s former tenant, remains the clearest thread through the venue’s identity.

How the night works

Programming centers electronic music, with DJs and live acts sharing the Sound Room; the broader bill also reaches jazz, hip-hop, R&B, folk, indie and pop. Resident Advisor’s opening report described weekly experimental-jazz performances alongside rare-record collector sets, a useful guide to the venue’s listening-minded booking approach. The main draw is the immersive Sound Room, while the five-space layout adds options: cocktails and close listening upstairs, plant-based food in The Atrium and Cafe Public, plus open-air events in The Nursery. Arrive for the artist, then allow time to explore the adjoining rooms.

Sources

  1. Public Records — Public Records
  2. Public Records is Brooklyn's new hi-fi listening bar, performance space and cafe — Resident Advisor
  3. Brief: 233 Butler Street, Brooklyn — New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
  4. Public Records (venue) — Wikipedia

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