More on the Pier 9 Rockfest, by George Fiala

Online readers may have seen a story we put up about an advertised music festival to take place on Pier 9A October 11 and 12. The promoters sent out a press release at the end of July, and various bloggers and news outlets previewed the event as if it were a done deal. In fact, the promoters are right now selling what they claim are non-refundable ‘early bird’ tickets at $80 a pop.

We spoke to the Port Authority today and found out that they are in fact still in negotiations about the event – that it is not necessarily a done deal. They invited Craig Hammerman of CB6 to a meeting this Wednesday. Other outreach events to listen to the community will be held, according to Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman. He told the Star-Revue that is nothing in writing as of yet between the promoter and the Port Authority.

The fact is that anyone can rent space on the containerport if they can afford it. There is a $30,000 rental fee that is going to the Port Authority for the two days. In addition to that, the promoters will have to pay all associated fees incurred. Because of tight regulations that came into place after 9/11, security costs alone are exorbitant – falling under the rubric of federal Homeland Security rules because of the shipments of containers.

We will be updating this story as it develops, but the word from the Port Authority, and also from the 76th Precinct, is that this is definitely not a ‘done deal.’ It might be a great show for those who enjoy that sort of stuff, but the neighborhood around the pier will no doubt have to be reassured that safety and other concerns will be met.

In the meantime, the promoter has been advertising what they call “The Escape Music Festival” on Facebook and other places.

Pictured below is how the blog “Brooklyn Vegan” covered the announcement of this concert:

gbrook@pipeline.com