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Long-Awaited Sankeys Nightclub to Open in Midtown

By Alan Neuhauser | March 25, 2013 10:33am | Updated on March 25, 2013 12:17pm
 DJs Philipp Jung and Troy Pierce of M.A.N.D.Y spin at District 36 on Feb. 26, 2011. Sankeys is moving into the club, which closed in the fall of 2012.
DJs Philipp Jung and Troy Pierce of M.A.N.D.Y spin at District 36 on Feb. 26, 2011. Sankeys is moving into the club, which closed in the fall of 2012.
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Facebook/District 36

MIDTOWN — A globe-trotting party promoter is opening his first nightclub in space vacated by District 36, a Midtown megaclub that closed when a 27-year-old patron died in an apparent fall from a balcony.

Ibiza United, a New York-based party promoter that has also organized events in Spain and the United Kingdom, plans to open Sankeys nightclub at the shuttered West 36th Street dance spot later this year, operations and event manager Morgan McLean announced at Midtown South Precinct's monthly community council meeting.

The club, which was a showroom close to Fifth Avenue before it became District 36 in 2010, can hold 600 to 800 people, McLean said. The owners will seek approval for a cabaret liquor license from Community Board 5 and the State Liquor Authority, which would allow DJs, dancing and parties until 4 a.m.

Ibiza has previously organized or promoted parties at major venues such as Roxy, Eugene's and Rush, McLean said. It most recently promoted the massive "Black & White Festival" on Governor's Island on Oct. 6 and 7.

District 36 closed last fall, five months after Michael Lin, of Flushing, was found unconscious and bleeding from the mouth outside the club April 21. He had a broken jaw and bruising on his body — injuries consistent with a fall, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told DNAinfo.com New York — but the precise cause of death, and whether foul play was involved, ultimately has remained inconclusive.

McLean emphasized Thursday that Ibiza United is not affiliated with District 36's owners.

"They're not affiliated with the old operator," he told the precinct's community council. "He's what I believe to be a good operator in a tough business."

Sankeys is scheduled to go before Community Board 5's Public Safety and Quality of Life Committee on Wednesday.