Bossa Nova Civic Club was infamous; a small, low-lit club with a checkered floor and daily DJ sets, it had been a cultural hotspot in Bushwick for the past nine years. From the club’s small and cozy feel, to the words on its wall that literally read: “If You Touch A Woman Against Her Will In This Establishment, We Will Literally Ruin Your Life,” few venues in the city captured the ambiance of the neighborhood like Bossa Nova did. 

After a fire last month, the club told its roughly 33,000 followers on Instagram that the club would be closed for “a notable amount of time.” 

In the aftermath, some of Bossa Nova’s more loyal clubbers had set up a GoFundMe. Since the page was set up on January 13, the fundraiser has pulled over $100,000 for a space they say is “a second home to a lot of us and has cultivated many careers, friendships, and chosen families.”