Roosevelt Island The Sanctuary Event Space Hosting Silent Spooky Halloween Party Saturday November 2 - But Party Last Friday Night Drew Complaints Of Late Night Blasting Music And Traffic Problems, RIOC PSD Says Music Did Not Seem Abnormally Loud

Roosevelt Island's new events space, The Sanctuary, is hosting a Quiet Events Halloween Party on Saturday November 2.

According to Quiet Events:

What could be more thrilling than a Halloween Party in an abandoned CHURCH?! Be one of the first to experience All Hallows Eve at this a newly renovated church turned night club just for our Silent Spooky Party!...

... Your 3 live DJs are spinning all night:
DJ 1 (Green): Soca/Reggae/Afro-Beat
DJ 2 (Red): 80’s, 90’s & 2K Throwbacks
DJ 3 (Blue): Hip Hop/R&B...

... How it works:
With your pair of Quiet Events headphones you can adjust the volume and choose between our three DJ’s with the flick of a switch. Each headset has a color LED that shows which channel you’re listening to. You can dance along with those tuning into the same DJ as you; it’s super social. There’s no loud music to talk over and there’s no ringing in your ears when you leave!...

Tickets range from $15 - $50.

Click here for tickets and more info.

But, last Friday evening, The Sanctuary hosted an event which was not silent, drawing 3 complaints to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Department of loud noise and a social media Twitter post.

Hey @Rooseveltisland, any knowledge of the noise laws here? Glad to see this below party being advertised as “quiet” but last night was blasting music till 4am at the Sanctuary. I’m not sure how the Octagon residents weren’t out with pitchforks. Uncool. pic.twitter.com/0UIMqugZO8

— Asha Curran (@RadioFreeAsha) October 26, 2019

We have good windows, no problem at all.

— Anton Slyusar (@AntonSlyusar) October 26, 2019

On Saturday, I asked Sanctuary owner Frank Rafaelle:

What was going on at The Sanctuary last night.

Received complaint of very loud noise blasting music until 4 am last night.

Mr. Rafaelle replied:

There was a private party yesterday. It was very tame, orderly, upscale, and uneventful. We had security at the clients request. The security team was instructed to monitor for loud music but they found no issues. PSD came by on their rounds multiple times and also found no issues. It was a beautiful and stunning event... Nothing happened.

Yesterday, the Roosevelt Island Daily published this video



taken by an Octagon resident and added:

... Between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m. Saturday, a traffic jam of cars, many for hire, clogged the fire lane bordering The Octagon. Partygoers weaved between vehicles on the dimly lit alley while a civilian struggled to direct chaotic traffic...

Yesterday, I asked RIOC about what happened at the Sanctuary on Friday night and:

... Does RIOC have any policy as to how late restaurants, bar and event spaces can stay open? I believe, but not sure, that the former Riverwalkl Bar was told to close by midnight. Does RIOC have any plans to limit late night hours of the Sanctuary?...

A RIOC Spokesperson replied:

Chief Brown has conducted a thorough investigation of the event that took place at The Sanctuary from Friday, October 25th through Saturday, October 26th.

PSD officers became aware of an event when the first noise complaint came in at approximately 11:15 PM. PSD officers patrolled the site until the event ended at 2:00 AM and people began to disburse. An officer also returned to investigate noise complaints at 4:30 AM, but at that time, the only people on site were the workers who were finishing their clean up after the event. A third complaint was registered around 5:15 AM when workers were leaving the premises.

PSD has discussed the incident with The Sanctuary. Chief Brown has a meeting scheduled with the owner/manager tomorrow afternoon to review all local noise and traffic ordinances. The chief will also establish measures which, among other things, will keep traffic and pedestrians restricted to certain areas.

I followed up asking RIOC:

To clarify, did the PSD officers hear loud noise coming from the event?

Did the PSD officers notice any traffic issues?

Were the event organizers asked to lower the noise?

How many complaints did PSD received about the event?

The RIOC Spokesperson answered:

We received three complaints and investigated them all. The manager was aware of the complaints when PSD made contact with him and the music did not seem abnormally loud to the responding officer.

They noticed traffic issues when the event was ending at 2am and addressed them. Some people disobeyed traffic laws throughout the night. The video shows that.

One of they key reasons for tomorrow’s meeting is to inform The Sanctuary about how PSD will be working with the community to address this issue for all future events. Stay tuned.

Will update with more info after today's meeting between RIOC and The Sanctuary owner.

During the October 7, 2019 RIOC Real Estate Development Advisory Committee (REDAC) meeting, owner Frank (Turtle) Rafaelle described some of his plans for The Sanctuary and added:

... We're super happy to be on the Island. Thank you so much. Everyone has been super kind. Many of you have stopped by to ask me what's going on, give words advice,  teach me a bit about the island

I've been in New York 46 years, Queens and Manhattan, but never lived on the Island, never worked on the Island.

 I'm very familiar with the Island but it's very different to be familiar with the island and  then live here or work here or run a  business here and I'm learning and I know there will be some hiccups along the way....

Stay tuned.