After a tumultuous year, by any metrics, for Brooklyn Mirage parent company Avant Gardner—which saw it file for bankruptcy and eventually sell at a bargain to Axar Capital Management, a longtime lender of the company, after its flagship venue never managed to open—the business is reportedly (very reasonably) seeking a fresh start, beginning with a new name. But ownership isn’t kicking the can to some expensive boutique marketing agency. Instead, it appears to be leaning on its staff to generate names for consideration.
In an email provided by an employee and reviewed by BKMAG, Avant Gardner can be seen asking its current staff to submit suggestions for its next company name. “As we enter the next chapter of our venue’s journey, we’d love your input on a new name for the entire complex—one that will replace the ‘Avant Gardner’ moniker,” the October 17 email said. “Please note that our current logo will remain the same.” The full list can be found below, but some of our early favorites include: “As You Are,” “NYDF (New York Dance Factory),” “Atrium,” and one submission that suggests renaming the entire complex “Brooklyn Mirage,” presumably to end, once and for all, any speculation over the venue’s existence.
The Avant Gardner employee, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said they were confused by the open communication about a new name, while being kept in the dark about what’s actually happening with the company during bankruptcy proceedings. “There hasn’t been much transparency with employees about the transition itself and what it means for everyone, but they’re still asking for input about an eventual venue name change, which suggests systematic overhaul of some kind,” they said.
If you’re just catching up in this endless saga, the “transition” the employee is referring to is the Brooklyn Mirage never opening this year due to permitting woes and failed safety inspections after a $30 million renovation, which lead to the firing of its CEO, its bankruptcy, and the $110 million sale of the venue to Axar, which was promptly sued by Mirage’s other lenders over alleged misrepresentations of the company’s financial condition, according to Bloomberg. AG is currently seeking approval for a full demolition of Brooklyn Mirage, but even that seems to have hit a snag, as their application was recently stamped with an all-too-familiar “objections” from the Department of Buildings, leaving some wondering if they’ve entered the same permitting limbo that kept the venue from opening again and again in 2025.
Whatever its fate or future moniker, it is, at the very least, safe to say the entity now temporarily known as “Avant Gardner” has already begun its rebranding effort.
The Brooklyn Mirage Instagram page, which was almost entirely dormant save for the announcement of its Memorial Day programming cancellation and Avant Gardner’s Chapter 11 filing (now gone as well), was wiped clean of all past content. Its bio now simply, perhaps aspirationally, reads, “It’s not the end—it’s just the beginning.”
Scroll on for the full list of business names suggested by employees for Avant Gardner’s rebrand below.
ALTER PHASE
ANNUAL
ANU START
AS YOU ARE
ATRIUM
AURION
BEATWERK OR BEAT WERK
BKLN MODULAR
BKLNODE
BKLNOVA
BROOKLYN HAUZ COMPLEX
BROOKLYN PROPER
BROOKLYN REVERB
BROOKLYN RHYTHM
BROOKLYN’S NIGHTLIFE
CITY OASIS
CLUB USA
CURRENT
DA BLOCK
DANCE GARDEN
EVERYTHING DIFFERENT
EVOLUTION
FRACTAL SOUNDS
FRACTURED SOUNDS
FRACTURED SYSTEMS
FRAME
GAINSTAGE
GROUNDLINE
HAUZ COLLECTIVE
KLAUSTHAUS
LIMINAL DISTRICT
MERSIVE HAUZ
MESSEROLE MEADOWS
MIRRORED BK
NEON BROOKLYN
NEW DIMENSION
NYDF (NEW YORK DANCE FACTORY)
ORION’S GROVE
PERENNIAL
POST MODERNA
SNDWERK
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT
SOUND GARDNER
SUB WOLF
THE BLOCK
THE BROOKLYN COLESIUM
THE BROOKLYN MIRAGE
THE BROOKLYN NIGHTINGALE
THE BROOKLYN VEIL
THE STARLIGHT
THE VANGUARD
THE VEIL
TRIFECTA BKLN
URBAN ECHO
VANTA LUCENT
VANTA LUME
VANTA NOVA
The post Avant Gardner Kicks Off Rebranding Effort, Asks Employees to Submit New Business Names appeared first on BKMAG.
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