New Concert Venue 'The Arc' Coming To Long Island City In 2019

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS -- A music website dedicated to covering shows around the world is now slated to open its own venue for artists to perform tunes - and create them - in Long Island City.

The Arc, a 20,000-square-foot venue featuring two concert spaces and a recording studio, is slated to open in the neighborhood's Kaufman Arts District early next year, said DMNDR founder John Belitsky.

Belitsky launched DMNDR in 2014 as a music website for artists, fans and journalists to share their interviews, show reviews, photos and videos of their favorite artists. The Queens native last year decided to open The Arc, named for its mission to showcase talent in every phase of a musician's career, as a physical space to accommodate the online community he'd built.

He and his growing team - which, as announced Tuesday, includes former Webster Hall Executive Vice President Rich Pawelczyk - picked a former sushi factory in Long Island City as the location, having been drawn in by the neighborhood's exploding population and proximity to Manhattan.

"It really is the best of New York City," said Pawelczyk, now Chief Operations Officer at The Arc. "Rather than expecting the local community to travel into Manhattan, we'd like it to be a reverse commute. We want to attract people from around the region."

The 1931 building's built-in acoustics potential doesn't hurt, either. The future concert venue is outfitted with a wooden cathedral-like ceiling with Douglas Fir bowstring trusses, Pawelczyk said.

"The ceiling will be a crucial piece of the acoustic sound system," he told Patch. "We're talking about seasoned wood."

And, he said, as the old saying goes for acoustics, "Wood is good."

A stellar sound environment that accommodates all music genres is a crucial selling point for The Arc, whose management team hired Grammy award-winning producer Adam Abeshouse to oversee the venue's acoustics.

"That really is what this venue should be founded on, because we really are in the business of delivering sound," Pawelczyk said.

The Arc will feature two performance halls: A smaller space with a 389-person capacity and a larger one that can accommodate 1,690. Concertgoers will also be able to munch on cuisine from more than 600 local vendors at a 24-hour cafe planned for the venue.

If that's not enough to draw out the neighborhood's music community, the venue will also feature a state-of-the-art recording studio that will stay open 24-7.

"The business model of this has been to really recreate a culture where artists can really thrive... and create their own sounds," Pawelczyk said.

It has, so far, been well received, he said. The Arc has already hosted several small invite-only performances leading up to its grand opening with bands like LoveHoney, Mosie and the Oxymorrons.

“We're already seeing a flood of initial interest among artists and sponsors," Pawelczyk said. "The Arc is taking shape as a world-class venue."

Lead photos courtesy of The Arc.