BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Two friends and business partners, including the former showrunner of an underground Bushwick venue, are bringing a new bar, venue and art gallery to Bed-Stuy.
Palisades906, at 906 Broadway in Brooklyn, is the brainchild of Leeor Waisbrod, 22, and Rose Feathers, 25. Waisbrod formerly ran Bushwick venue the Lab, at 224 Wyckoff Ave., where he put on shows with bands like Brooklyn's Wild Yaks.
The Lab, which was in space loaned to him by a local business owner who wasn't ready to use it, was the dry run for the new venue, the young business owner said.
"I didn't have any plans for longevity with that place," Waisbrod said. "With this place, we're doing it all the right way."
After meeting Feathers while working at Union Square noodle restaurant Republic, the two realized they had similar ambitions and set to work to open a venue.
A 2,400-square-foot space on the border of Bed-Stuy and Bushwick, Palisades906 has already begun featuring exhibitions from local artists. Most recently, the venue featured a show called Notan Graphic Works From East to West, which showcased six Japanese artists that live in Brooklyn.
After the approval of their liquor license, the two plan to set up a full bar with small Asian-inspired dishes similar to the menu at Republic.
Brooklyn Community Board 3, which represents Bed-Stuy, approved a reccomendation for their liquor license earlier this month.
But the arts will take center stage at the venue, the owners said. The plan is for Palisades906 to showcase art and music for locals, by locals.
"Between the musicians and artists that live in the neighborhoods that border it," Feathers said, "we hope they're both our audience who can engage us and come out and see us, and we hope we can showcase them as well."
Despite the upgraded digs, Palisades906 will have the spirit of an underground venue, Waisbrod said.
"In its essence, this space is going to be a place that exists for the community, free of pretension," Waisbrod said.
