Brooklyn Raises $30K For Nightclub Targeted By Arsonist: GoFundMe

BROOKLYN, NY — Neighbors are opening their hearts — and wallets — to help a popular Brooklyn nightclub devastated by an arson attack on Sunday.

A GoFundMe set up by Willoughby Avenue nightclub Rash had raised $29,651 as of Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after it was first put up by the Bushwick bar.

The fundraiser comes two days after a suspected arsonist poured a bottle of flammable liquid on the floor of the nightclub, lit a match and fled, causing an explosion that set the bar up in flames, according to police and Rash. Two people hurt in the fire were sent to the hospital, authorities said.

"We still don’t know what to make of this cruel act of violence," the bar wrote in its GoFundMe.

The blaze has sent shockwaves through a neighborhood known for its nightlife and queer spaces, particularly given a spate of other incidents at similar venues.

"This is NUTS. We need these spaces," one donor, Paul Gordon, wrote on the fundraiser. "We have to celebrate MUSIC and ART and TOGETHERNESS."

The Rash fire comes only a few months after a fire in an upstairs apartment shut down Bossa Nova Civic Club, a similar nightclub just down the block. Bossa Nova had just updated their security in the fall after a stabbing inside the club, according to reports.

Last fall, the Bed-Stuy queer bar C'Mon Everybody found a brick thrown through its window.

Police had not caught Rash's suspected arsonist — who the bar described as a man "wearing a dark hoodie and a backpack" — as of Tuesday afternoon.

The bar urged anyone who may have useful information to get in touch through email or DMs.

Rash first opened in the fall of 2021 as a venue for live jazz and electronic DJ shows, according to reports from the time.

"In only five short months we were privileged to become home to such a talented and vital community of artists," they wrote on the GoFundMe. "It breaks our hearts that anyone would seek to threaten that for any reason."