Raw Historic Underground Gymnasium

This is a 2500 square foot gymnasium available for video shoots, photo shoots, and events. The space also comes with an adjacent 72 square foot ramp that makes for a cool side room.

The gym measures 50 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 13.5 feet high.

The gymnasium, located beneath a church, was abandoned in the 1970s. From October 2018 through April 2019, the space was renovated and is now available for your use. Thus, the look of the space is raw and industrial, including a retro paint job, a wall of brick, old basketball hoops, and a tiled tin ceiling. The floor is the original concrete, currently not finished, with small pocks and unevenness throughout.

The space lets in very little daylight. Even at high noon on a bright day, there is almost total darkness in the gym. This allows photo and video work to have total control over the lighting.

The gym is equipped with a 5 ton central heating and cooling system, newly installed in 2020, to keep you chill all summer and cozy all winter, and to allow good air circulation.

There are six electricity outlets in the gym, some with one socket, and some with as many as four sockets. One of these six outlets is a 220 volt outlet while the other five outlets support 110 volts. The circuits range from 20 amps to 30 amps.

The two center columns of the Gym are equipped with eight 3000 lumen bright white LED light bulbs for maximum visibility.

The side columns of the Gym are equipped with 7 Phillips Hue bulbs, which can be modified to any color or warm or cool white light, along with a range of brightness levels. The Gymnasium is provided at our default lighting in the photos, and for an additional fee, you may rent a tablet which controls the bulb settings. The 7 Phillips Hue bulbs are not bright enough to fill up the entire room with bright saturated colored light, but it's great ambient lighting for live events, or to compliment the lighting in your photo or video shoot. The rentable tablet also controls the color of the lamp in the Ramp side room. You're also welcome to rent our additional lighting gear to provide the quality of light that you need.

The space is equipped with a powerful WIFI network.

Renters are able to rent our collapsable movie screen and projector to stage their own film viewings. Our movie screen is approximately 22 feet by 12.5 feet. Our projector is a Panasonic VZ-580. Use of this equipment costs an additional fee.

Renters are able to safely store their equipment in the space overnight. Renters are able to be in the space 24 hours a day, with the exception of Sundays, when we are closed between 7am and 3:30pm.

The venue has a seating capacity of 50. Please notify in advance so that the correct number of chairs can be set in place. If you need more than 10 chairs, the venue will ask a furniture fee. Additional tables are also available for a fee. If you'd like to bring in additional seats, more will fit in the space.

Our venue has a large selection of in-house photo and video gear. For additional add-on fees, renters may use our lights, fog machines, speakers, and more. Please see our add-ons to see the entire selection.

We are picky when it comes to booking events at our space, and say no to the majority of the requests we get, which are for parties and concerts. That said, we do love the events we host here that are right for our church basement. We favor small gatherings with a mellow daytime energy. A screening of your new short film could work great here. A dinner party for a small group of friends could be a great fit.

Also note that while some art exhibitions are occasionally a good fit for our space, we do not host most pop-ups, as they tend to not work well with the multiple spaces in our property.

We regret that at this time, our space does not offer wheelchair access. We’ve spent the last year restoring this basement from the 1800s, but we are not yet at the point where we can afford to build ramps or elevators. With the help of your rentals, our budget will get there. Thank you for your patience.

Our space is more popular during evenings and weekends, and so you will notice that our hourly rate varies. Weekday evenings are priced higher after 6pm. Friday evening and all of Saturday and Sunday are priced at a premium.

This is located on Bushwick Avenue near the Halsey J and Gates J stations, and a 12 minute walk from the Myrtle Wyckoff L / M station.