Exclusive | How a massive Silicon Alley party for NYCs tech scene turned into a bust with hundreds stranded in the cold
A lavish party meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary of New York City’s “Silicon Alley” tech scene turned into a bust — after a building permit snafu left hundreds of attendees stranded in a “freezing” building lobby, The Post has learned.Roughly 1,300 people were set to attend the $95-a-head event, “30+ Years of Silicon Alley,” on the 41st floor of 180 Maiden Lane in the Financial District.The Friday shindig was billed as a “one-night-only celebration” of “three decades of tech & innovation in New York,” with jazz and cocktails followed by a live performance by DJ Isaac Ferry.However, an occupancy certificate for the sky-high Maiden Lane party space listed a maximum of just 186 people at a time, according to public records reviewed by The Post.
What’s more, the certificate was classified as temporary and expired on July 23, 2023.While some executives made it upstairs, hundreds of other well-dressed guests — including some whose firms had cosponsored the shindig — were stranded in the frigid lobby.The local fire marshal told guests that the party space was way above its max occupancy and had to shut down, sources said.“There was a huge queue snaking around the lobby, which led to escalators and then elevators up to the event.
Hundreds of people, and the line did not move at all,” one attendee told The Post.“It was an indoor lobby, of course, but huge and airy, and freezing.”Event organizers had submitted a “temporary place of assembly” request for the 41st floor on Jan.
29 — just one day before the Silicon Alley party was scheduled to take place, city records show.But city officials raised “objections” to the filing, which appears to have never received final approval before the party.The records don’t specify what the objections were.The event’s steering committee included New York tech heavyweights like Julie Samuels of the influential trade group TechNYC and Kevin Ryan of AlleyCorp.
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