On a balmy Sunday evening this past August, an emcee hyped up hundreds of partygoers on the rooftop of the Brooklyn\u2019s Children\u2019s Museum. The crowd danced to booming soca music and sipped tropical cocktails under the glow of pink neon lights. \u201cA time was hadddddd,\u201d one person wrote under a video posted on Instagram.<\/p>\n
The museum\u2019s neighbors in this quiet, residential stretch of Crown Heights had a less exuberant reaction. They say the museum\u2019s growing practice of renting out its rooftop terrace for adult parties with names like \u201cKocaine All White Renaissance<\/a>\u201d and \u201cRum and Music\u201d means rattling windows, crying babies and thundering bass.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aSome people joke that it’s an event space masquerading as a children’s museum, rather than the other way around,\u201d said Taofeek Owoade, who lives directly across the street from the museum with his wife and 1-year-old daughter. \u201cIt\u2019s really, really, really loud.\u201d<\/p>\n The private parties mean something else, too: On certain days when the roof is rented out for events, the children’s museum shuts its doors to kids.<\/p>\n This past summer, the museum was closed for normal business on 12 days between May and August \u2013 all days when it was bought out for private events, according to calendars shared with the local block association. In 2025, the museum was either closed or shut down early for 11 days over the spring and summer.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aYou would be shocked how often I’m walking my dog, or I’m outside, and I see people going up to the museum and being like, \u2018Wait, it’s closed?\u2019\u201d Owoade said.<\/p>\n Seth Wolfkot, the father of 4-year-old and 6-year-old daughters, said he was so frustrated by the closures and the noise issues that he canceled his family\u2019s museum membership.<\/p>\n \u201cThis whole thing has definitely left a bad taste in my mouth,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes me not want to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n Disagreements over how loud is too loud have divided neighborhoods<\/a> across the city, and certainly Crown Heights, which has seen an influx of wealthier, whiter families. But locals say the fact that the noise is emanating from a children\u2019s museum makes it especially egregious.<\/p>\n Atiba Edwards, the museum\u2019s president and CEO, declined to be interviewed, but said in a statement the museum coordinates with police and the local community board to \u201censure we are good neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n “Event rentals at Brooklyn Children’s Museum make our institution’s facilities accessible to other groups in the community and generate vital revenue the museum uses to help subsidize the approximately $1.5 million in free services we offer to children and families each year,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n A financial boost<\/p>\n The children\u2019s museum has been renting out space for decades, but in recent years the events appear to have become more frequent, more lucrative and \u2013 the neighbors say \u2013 a lot louder.<\/p>\n The museum\u2019s federal tax filings show event rentals are a growing source of revenue. The nonprofit brought in nearly $440,000<\/a> in rental income in 2024, according to the most recent year the information is available. In 2023, the museum made more than $360,000 from event rentals. By comparison, the museum made about $95,000 from events in 2019.<\/p>\n Many local arts and culture institutions are turning to hosting private events to raise additional cash. The Brooklyn Museum, which announced last year it had to cut more than 40 employees<\/a> because of budget deficits, rents out its lobby, interior courtyard and auditorium for events like weddings and corporate gatherings.<\/p>\n The rooftop terrace at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum has hosted a growing number of special events.<\/p>\n Brooklyn Children’s Museum<\/p>\n Recent improvements at the Brooklyn Children\u2019s Museum, which was founded in 1899 as the world\u2019s first children\u2019s museum<\/a>, have made it especially popular for hosting summer dance parties. An L-shaped yellow roof designed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Vi\u00f1oly was added in an $80 million renovation in 2008, and the museum upgraded its 20,000-square foot<\/a> roof deck with a sculptural white overhang in 2017.<\/p>\n Neighbors said the opening of the improved roof deck marked a shift in the museum\u2019s relationship with the community. The space hosts events for children like roller skating and outdoor art installations. But residents say it\u2019s the private events hosted on the roof that get out of hand.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aSome of those parties are very aggressive in their vibe with DJs shouting and firing up the partygoers, and there’s a fair amount of obscenity actually which then goes directly out into the entire neighborhood,\u201d said Derrick Hilbertz, who lives down the block from the museum. \u201cThat’s something we think is inconsistent with the mission of a children’s museum.\u201d<\/p>\n JP Edmund, a musician who\u2019s lived on the park behind the museum for over 50 years, said he used to DJ on the building\u2019s roof as a teenager in the 1980s. But he said the parties back then were nothing like what goes on now.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s not a gentrification thing. It’s a sound thing. It’s a too-damn-loud thing,” Edmund said. \u201cThey’re trying to get that club feeling in an open-air scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n Edmund said his frustration dates back to around 2019. He was taking care of his ailing mother at the time and the parties were drowning out the sound of their TV.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aI vividly remember going over there and complaining and raising hell in the couple of years before she passed away to tell them, \u2018Yo, you gotta do something. You gotta turn this down,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt was no avail.\u201d<\/p>\n Listings for recent events show they\u2019re scheduled to end at 10 p.m., and neighbors said that schedule is generally respected. But they said the volume can be deafening up until then.<\/p>\n Residents along St. Mark’s Ave., just across from the museum, say noise complaints have gone nowhere.<\/p>\n Walter Wuthmann\/Gothamist<\/p>\n Owoade said one night the music was so loud it caused a window in his apartment to fall out of its frame. On another night, the noise made his baby daughter so miserable, the family sought cover in a nearby cocktail bar where it was quieter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were there with a less than 1-year-old at a bar, sitting there, waiting out the party before we can get her to go to bed,\u201d Owoade said.<\/p>\n A search for a solution<\/p>\n Several people said their complaints have gone nowhere.<\/p>\n Owoade recalled a tense meeting organized by the block association last November. Edwards, the museum\u2019s president, pushed back on the group\u2019s characterization of the events as \u201cloud\u201d and ended by telling them that it \u201cprobably wasn\u2019t going to get any better,\u201d Owoade said. (Through a spokesperson, Edwards declined to be interviewed.)<\/p>\n Edwards\u2019 appointment in 2023 was historic \u2013 he is the first Black man to run the organization in the institution\u2019s history. He has spoken<\/a> of wanting to make sure the museum remains connected and accessible to Crown Heights’ African-American and Caribbean communities.<\/p>\n But residents feel that mission has not extended to the museum\u2019s immediate neighbors. \u201cI don’t feel like I’m being included in the community when my concerns about music that have a negative impact on my life are being kind of dismissed,\u201d Owoade said.<\/p>\n The local community board has had slightly better luck. When it organized a meeting with museum leadership and the local police precinct this summer to discuss noise complaints, the museum outlined several mitigation measures, like establishing a maximum sound level of 70 decibels, said Michelle George, the board\u2019s district manager.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Community Board will continue to monitor the situation and remains committed to working with the Museum, the NYPD, and residents to address any ongoing concerns,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n Edmund, the former DJ, said he\u2019s not optimistic that next summer will be quieter.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aNobody’s trying to stop them from making money,\u201d Edmund said. \u201cBut you have to take into consideration your neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n