The Lot Radio (17 Nassau Ave.) is an independently owned non-profit online radio station that streams from a reclaimed shipping container in an empty North Brooklyn lot. To help fund the radio station, The Lot Radio has a café kiosk that sells drinks and snacks. Plus, it played host to Charli XCX this past May.
The Lot Radio’s founder François Vaxelaire has revealed plans to build a new structure to house the radio platform and café, working with architectural design firm LOT-EK to stay true to The Lot Radio’s recycled style.
“If everything goes well, the new structure could be in place before next summer,” Vaxelaire told Greenpointers.
Locals may have noticed that The Lot Radio is not currently selling any food or drinks. Vaxelaire explained that the kiosk side of The Lot Radio’s home has been temporarily shut down by the NYC Department of Health due to “temporary undetermined status,” which is the result of applying for renovation permits and unrelated to sanitary issues or health hazards.
“We are actively working with both Department of Buildings and Department of Health on the matter and hope to reopen as soon as possible,” Vaxelaire told Greenpointers, highlighting that the current structure will reopen before renovations are complete next summer.
The Lot Radio’s café has been shut down before by the Department of Health in 2019 primarily due to the kiosk’s water source.
The radio remains unaffected by the current situation with the café and renovations.
The”lot” may be empty but the nearby residential community suffers from the noise pollution that emanates from the outdoor speakers that blare when the cafe is in operation. The Lot “menu” needs to also offer more consideration for the people who live here, and their quality of life. But given the Lot track record over the years, good luck with that. Stream your station online, not directly into people’s homes at all hours, uninvited and unwanted.
there’s no nearby residential community and the sounds is nearly inaudible at this point from inside the lot. what exactly does the menu need to satisfy this made up constituency?