Last September, Hurricane Ida raged. Bushwick was hit with tremendous force, leaving many homes and businesses flooded. The East Williamsburg storefront of Superior Elevation Records was one of them: the storm forced them to leave their basement level address at 100 White Street, where they’ve been located for the past seven years.

The popular record store, which specializes in disco, soul and house music, has since put up a GoFundMe page, which details that only a small allotment of the records were able to be salvaged from the storm – at least 75% were destroyed. 

Not able to collect a single dollar from their insurance policy, Superior Elevation’s GoFundMe page began shortly after the storm, with a goal of raising $20,000. To date, they’ve landed $16,934 from a total of 295 fans of the store. Though short of the goal they set, the money was enough to lease a new space for Superior Elevation.

Shortly after Hurricane Ida, employees at the record store attempted to salvage any records that they possibly could. (Image courtesy of Superior Elevation Records’ Instagram)

Owners Ellen Kanamori, Ellen Kanamori and Tom Noble – who also DJs, and his staff secured a different East Williamsburg address last November: 616 Grand Street. Noble and Kanamori say in an Instagram post that the donations had powered the move.

A soft opening for the new place was January 15, followed by opening show on January 29, featuring several local DJs. The new spot is open 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., seven days per week.

If unable to shop in-person, you can also browse records for sale from the store’s extensive collection on Discogs. Online, you can also buy branded shirts, stickers, tote bags and record cleaner. The store also manages a small record label, which features DJs like Noble, Willie Burns and Phil Gerus – check them out on SoundCloud.


If looking to sell records, shoot Noble an email or give them a call at 718-360-1965.


Featured image courtesy of Superior Elevation Records’ Instagram.

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