Union Pool

Union Pool is a 150-capacity concert room in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, inside a former pest-control and swimming-pool-supply store. The useful distinction for a night out is its split personality: bands play in the Back Room while the adjacent main bar, photo booth, pinball machine and large patio keep the evening moving before and after a set. That makes it feel like a bar with a serious small-stage program, instead of a sealed-off club.

A corner bar rebuilt for music

Alyssa Abeyta and Zeb Stewart opened Union Pool in 2000; a staff notebook later pinned its public debut to October 29 at 7 p.m. The building began as a utilitarian commercial space under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, then became a corner bar that gradually added its music operation, patio service and DJ-driven nightlife. Ray’s hand-painted lettering and artwork still remain part of the room’s visual character, according to a 2025 retrospective.

Its sharpest recent rupture came on July 1, 2022, when a five-alarm blaze in an adjoining building caused damage and forced a closure. Repairs took roughly four weeks, and Union Pool reopened on August 5. The return came with Summer Thunder, its free Sunday series, whose 2022 program included the Sun Ra Arkestra, Joe Bataan, Malcolm Mooney and Sheer Mag. That episode captures the venue’s scale and approach: a neighborhood bar able to pivot quickly into a focused live-music bill.

The room today

Union Pool’s concert menu leans rock, indie, country and folk, with a 21+ rule for guests and performers. Its booking guidelines put all door revenue after house costs, plus merchandise income, with performers keeping merchandise profits; the policy points toward working-band bills and compact multi-act nights. For audiences, the Back Room supplies the dedicated stage environment, while the main bar offers a full bar, analog black-and-white photo booth and pinball; outside, the seated patio hosts El Diablo Tacos. Expect close quarters in the 150-capacity space and easy breathing room outdoors between sets.