This is so hardcore.
An iconic Brooklyn heavy metal bar decorated with upside down crosses and pentagrams is shutting its doors — after apparently operating illegally for 13 years.
The final nail has apparently been hammered into the coffin of Saint Vitus Bar – as its owners confirmed this week tthey wouldn’t reopen the beloved Greenpoint music venue most famous for hosting a secret reunion show of Nirvana’s surviving members in 2014 after the band’s Rock’n Roll & Hall of Fame induction.
The New York City Department of Buildings had slapped the hardcore haven with a $25,000 fine in February, saying the bar’s 70-year-old certificate of occupancy only allowed for the space to be used as a storefront and to store machinery.
“1120 Manhattan Ave. 2011-2024,” the bar’s owners wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday but alluded to a possible move to a new location. “Saint Vitus Bar to be continued…Thank you to everyone who was a part of it.”
The venue, named after the Black Sabbath song “Saint Vitus Dance” – showcased scores of metal, punk and rock bands and a bevy of late-night DJs over its 13-year run.
Saint Vitus famously hosted Nirvana’s surviving members in one of only a handful of reunions since singer-guitarist Kurt Cobain’s 2014 suicide. The venue has also hosted special shows featuring Megadeth, Against Me and Anthrax, among others, per Variety.
“It was one of the hot spots” for heavier music, former regular and musician Kyler Sane told The Post. “If you got to play [St. Vitus], it felt like a pretty important event.”
Sane, 29, of Hicksville, Long Island, fondly remembered the venue as a gathering place for metal musicians where “the people at the top of the genre were with people doing it at the local level.”
“The big names of metal would always show their face there,” Sane added, noting encounters over the years with musicians from bands like Type O Negative and punk bands like The Queers.
“From eleven onwards, Saint Vitus transforms into a different sort of haven: a community that revolves around synth-based music that includes darkwave, industrial, EBM and post-punk,” DJ Andi Harriman of synth-based party SYNTHICIDE wrote in Saint Vitus Bar: The First Ten Years. “Since 2017, Vitus has been a pillar to the party’s growth and given us a place to thrive.”
But city inspectors pulled the plug on the music in February — in the middle of a set by the band Mindforce.
The bar was issued its first violation regarding occupancy in July 2023, but its owners never corrected the issue, DOB records show.
“We’re shell-shocked,” one of the owners told a Post reporter who knocked on the establishment’s door days after it was shuttered. “We’ve been here 13 years so we’re still processing. But we’re trying to expedite everything.”
In the weeks following the shutdown, a rumor swirled among bar regulars, who blamed someone holding a grudge for repeated 311 calls about the venue. According to DOB records, 16 complaints about the bar’s lack of the proper certificate of occupancy were made dating back to May 2023 — and all the complaints appear to be coming from one person.
“I will continue to make this complaint on a daily basis until either the Department of Buildings performs an inspection or until Saint Vitus Bar can remedy their situation,” reads several of the complaints.
Council member Justin Brannan – who plays in the band Most Precious Blood – told Gothamist the shutdown had “an element of weaponization of the 311 system, which is a real problem.”
The DOB inspection in February was, in fact, made in response to “over a dozen 311 complaints from members of the public about the location,” a DOB spokesperson confirmed to The Post.
“Upon our arrival to the scene, we found approximately 250 people on the first floor of the building, assembled in an illegal eating and drink establishment,” the agency added.
One of the bar’s owners, who declined to give his name, told The Post that Saint Vitus’ owners were working with the proper authorities to get the venue back on its feet as soon as possible.
The property owners and their architect began submitting the required documentation to get updated permits, and the DOB approved those plans this year, the agency told The Post — but the bar’s owners went silent after the applications were approved.
The venue surrendered its liquor license as of Monday, according to the State Liquor Authority.
The bar hadn’t been shut down, but rather evacuated and banned from operating as a bar, the DOB contends.
“During our inspection, DOB did not issue a Vacate Order at the building,” the agency previously told The Post. “The building can still be occupied.”
Saint Vitus Bar separately touts over a dozen active DOB violations dating back to 2009 – all regarding failure to submit boiler inspection reports. The venue was also cited by the FDNY for obstructed exits and other violations, Brooklyn Paper first reported.
A request for comment was not immediately returned from the bar’s owners.
Back in February, a GoFundMe was set up shortly after the shutdown to support the venue’s staff while ownership was attempting to “remedy” the situation and reopen. As of Tuesday, the fundraiser has raised $18,521 of its $25,000 goal.
Meanwhile, the barhas been hosting shows as #VitusPresents at several other venues around Brooklyn – but the August announcement marked a definite end, and a new beginning, for some regulars.
“It was a pretty big staple of the community,” Sane added, noting the bar’s massively successful pandemic-era online fundraiser — which sought to raise $15,000 for its staff during the COVID-19 lockdown.
As Rolling Stone noted, the venue ended up raising over $125,000 – which is a testament to the deep affinity its community had for the now-shuttered music venue, Sane said.
“Whatever brought them to this point … if they want to recreate this in a different way, they can,” Sane added, “and there would be people who want to support that endeavor.”
