Do music venues even exist anymore? Yesterday, longstanding Williamsburg performance space Glasslands announced it would shutter at the end of the year, and now relative newcomer Radio Bushwick has had to indefinitely suspend its shows thanks to a licensing dispute with the building's landlord.

Brooklyn Vegan reported yesterday that the year-old venue had to move/cancel their whole CMJ lineup thanks to "some sort of landlordly legal-biz," according to a band that got shuffled. We reached out to Radio Bushwick's owner, Tari Sunkin, who confirmed their landlord has obtained a temporary restraining order that prohibits them from putting on shows until further notice. Sunkin says that though she and her management company, Cayuga Capital Management, agreed to legally convert the building when she signed her lease in 2010, her landlord refused to sign the final paperwork that would provide her with the proper zoning, despite her having funneled a fortune into making necessary renovations.

"It took me three years to get open," Sunkin told us, noting that she'd spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on renovations while still paying her rent. "I was taking on stuff that was technically their responsibility." Sunkin says she passed multiple DOB and FDNY inspections, and merely needed the final paperwork to ensure everything was on the up and up.

According to Sunkin, once her landlord refused to sign the final papers, she stopped paying rent; the management company then sued her for non-payment. Though Radio Bushwick countersued, Sunkin says the landlord brought in the DOB and the FDNY to claim that the space was unsafe. DOB records do show a number of very recent violations, including two in September over "immediately hazardous" conditions.

A judge has issued a temporary restraining order that can't be lifted until Sunkin's next court date on October 30th—as a result, Radio Bushwick has had to shuffle around their whole CMJ week, hosting some shows at nearby bar/performance space Lot 45. "All of these shows, we move them, we don't cancel them. We don't tell people that they can't perform," Sunkin said. "Some of them travel, some of them tour, some of them have been looking forward to this for two months." She estimates the venue will lose anywhere from $20K to $40K a week thanks to the TRO. "I spent three quarters of a million dollars building this place up, I paid rent on time, I had 5 month abatement. I've been paying rent this entire time, and all of a sudden they're going to walk in and say it's unsafe because they won't sign a piece of paper. It doesn't make any sense," she said.

Jamie Wiseman, Cayuga Capital Management's co-owner told us that the TRO was issued over "life safety issues," adding that "[t]he tenant is operating without insurance and without life safety systems including a signed off fire alarm and sprinkler system." He also claims that the management company has no legal responsibility to provide her with a cabaret license, and that Sunkin has not provided them with proof of insurance.

"As the landlord, we have a duty to be proactive in ensuring the space we own is not operated in an unsafe manner without insurance," Wiseman says. "We had no choice, given the tenant's complete control and occupancy of the premises, but to seek governmental assistance to compel the tenant to comply with applicable law."

A judge's order contends that, "Defendant's own website shows what appears to be hundred(s) of young people crowded around a performance stage. One shudders to contemplate the consequences of inadequate fire safety protections."

Bah. For now, you can check Brooklyn Vegan for updated CMJ show locations, and note that Radio Bushwick's bar is still open for those who want to stop by in support.