Harry Belafonte – Downtown Magazine

Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment is partnering with The Bowery Presents — AEG Presents’ regional partner — to acquire the operating rights and assets to Webster Hall, the legendary music and entertainment venue located in Manhattan’s East Village. The parties will assume the long-term lease to the building, which will continue to be owned by current owner, Unity Gallega.

Webster Hall — which has operated as a venue since 1886 — includes the Grand Ballroom, The Studio and The Marlin Room live entertainment spaces. The officially-designated New York City landmark has served an integral role in the development of many artists’ careers and was named 2016 Nightclub of the Year at the annual awards of Pollstar Magazine. The magazine currently ranks Webster Hall as the No. 2 club venue worldwide for ticket sales.

“We are excited to build on the iconic history of Webster Hall,” said Brett Yormark, CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. “Webster Hall provides us with an extraordinary opportunity to connect with artists early in their careers and expands BSE’s venue footprint into Manhattan. We appreciate all that the Ballinger family has done to make Webster Hall an industry leading venue and we are looking forward to working with them, The Bowery Presents and AEG Presents to make it an even greater destination for live music.”

“Partnering with The Bowery Presents and Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment to program and operate this iconic live facility will continue to enhance Webster Hall’s worldwide reputation as one of the industry’s most important venues,” said Jay Marciano, Chairman and CEO, AEG Presents.

Webster Hall has undergone several waves of transformation throughout the past century. In the 1920’s, Webster Hall notoriously held masquerade balls and was nicknamed “the Devil’s Playhouse.” RCA Records purchased Webster Hall in 1954 and renovated the venue to include a state-of-the-art acoustically-treated ballroom. Notable artists who recorded in Webster Hall’s studio during this time included Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan (his recording debut), Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, and Julie Andrews.

Beginning in the 1980’s, Webster Hall reemerged as a leading rock venue in the City, hosting artists such as Eric Clapton with Keith Richards, U2 (the band’s first-ever U.S. show), Tina Turner, The Beastie Boys, Prince, Sting, Metallica, Aerosmith, KISS, B.B. King and Guns N’ Roses. The Ballinger family began running the venue in 1989.

Last week, the New York Public Library announced the celebrated artists and wordsmiths comprising its 2016 class of Library Lions — including humanitarian/activist Harry Belafonte, author/novelist Hilary Mantel, award-winning Spanish novelist Javier Marías, Wall Street Journal columnist and author Peggy Noonan, and Irish novelist, essayist and poet Colm Tóibín — will be honored at the annual Library Lions Gala on Monday, Nov. 7.

This year’s gala will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Truman Capote’s legendary Black & White Ball, and will feature a special performance by soprano and Library Trustee Jessye Norman. The event returns to the Library’s iconic Rose Main Reading Room after a two-year hiatus due to repairs and restorations. Lions will be the first event held in the space since its long-anticipated reopening.

In addition to getting an early look at the newly-renovated Rose Main Reading Room, guests in attendance will also have an opportunity to see a special collection of items representing Truman Capote and his iconic 1966 event, which will be on display, as well as select collection items from the 2016 Library Lions class — one that inspires them from the Library’s collections, and one that is directly connected to their body of work. Items that will be on display include: The Hunt-Lenox Globe from 1510, a printed broadside of the Declaration of Independence from 1776, a typescript of a W.E.B Du Bois essay on race relations, a William Butler Yeats manuscript, a draft of Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn, and a composition notebook of Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball invite list.

For over 30 years, the Library has celebrated individuals who have made significant contributions to New York City and to the creative community at large during its annual gala. Previous honorees include Nelson Mandela, Elie Weisel, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Scorsese, Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith, Steve Martin, Ethan Hawke, Dave Eggers, and Anna Deavere Smith among many others. Alan Bennett, Judith A. Jamison, Maira Kalman, Karl Ove Knausgaard, and Gloria Steinem were last year’s Library Lions.

NYPL’s 2016 Library Lions Gala begins with arrivals and a cocktail reception at 7:00 PM, and continues at 8:00 PM with dinner, program and a performance by Jessye Norman. For ticket information and pricing, or for information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact librarylions@nypl.org.