Behind the Curtain: Arts District's Alleged Fraud

According to sources, JBJ Renovations, the general contractor responsible for building out the Arts District venue, was asked to take over the project in March 2022. A completion date of July was requested by Charles and company. Despite being paid in full for the original scope, JBJ Renovations provided $627,000 in additional materials, services, and labor, all of which were provided at the direct request of Arts District leadership.   Despite timely payment requests, Arts District leadership pushed for JBJ Renovations to continue work without payment, as the opening date was crucial for investors and more funding. All parties were aware of the accumulation of extras, and all were approved prior to work beginning.   From full payment promised in September 2022 to a complete lack of responsibility for the owed amount, negotiations with a third-party company, a settlement reached, and an alleged loan falling through, JBJ Renovations have yet to be paid on this outstanding work.  

According to sources, on June 1, 2022, Immersive Management and Services LLC (Arts District Brooklyn) entered into an agreement with digital marketing agency, Henry Street Creative. Authorized by David Galpern and Charles Roy, and executed by Managing Partner Jacob Feldman, this agreement contracted Henry Street Creative to fulfill multiple services, including social media strategy and deployment, video production services, paid social oversight, and analytic reporting.   Despite making several partial payments against the terms of this agreement, Arts District Brooklyn and its executive leaders breached this agreement as early as August 2022 when they stopped rendering payment as contractually mandated.   On November 2, 2023, and after a year of pricey legal pursuit, the Supreme Court of The State of New York County of New York, awarded Henry Street Creative a default judgment of $181,970.29.   

According to sources, Lycea Productions, formerly Cayle Campbell Productions, was contracted by Charles Roy and David Galpern in 2019 to facilitate an event for them in Ottowa, Canada. Despite fufilling the job completeley, Charles and David "walked out" on over $30,000 in invoices.   Lycea has received a judgement against them, but still has yet to receive the payment that is duly owed.  This is not an isolated event, but a clear indication of a habitual business practice.   

According to sources, Andrew Kim and his fiance, Ploymai Siribansop, paid a $15,000 deposit for their wedding in April of 2024. Since the venue had not had a wedding in the past, they wanted to throw a bachelor party on September 30, 2023, in the same venue as a way to build relationships with the staff and test the musical/visual concepts for the wedding. To reserve the date for this event, they paid an additional $10,000 deposit to Arts District.   When they arrived to test the A/V equipment prior to their September 30th event, no one was at the venue, and they later found out that their entire production staff "didn't work there anymore." Both Jacob Feldman and Arts District Representative, Ernie, confirmed in writing their deposit would be returned -- and then never spoke to them again. 

According to sources, Adriana Douzos, Owner of The PR Canvas, has outstanding invoices from August 2022 totaling $15,000 for publicity services rendered for the launch of Arts District Brooklyn, under an agreement with David Galpern and Charles Roy, d/b/a Canada LTD.   She has yet to be paid. 

According to sources, ShowFab, one of the country's leading organizations specializing in custom fabrication was engaged by Arts District in the build-out of their Brooklyn venue to provide the audience and performance areas. Based on the advice of ShowFab's legal counsel, they have advised to discontinue the pursuit of duly owed funds due to the expensive nature of litigation.   Consequently, Arts District skirted around their financial obligations to another vendor.  

According to sources, Vondom Labs, contracted Arts District Brooklyn to host an event on September 9th. To reserve the venue, a contract was signed and a $10,000 deposit was rendered to the venue in May 2023. From May up until our event, communication with Arts District was "a nightmare." Multiple pieces of AV equipment that were allegedly owned at the time of contract signing were, in fact, not available and due to the high turnover of staff, they found it difficult to reach anyone from the venue.   Two days before the event Vondom Labs learned that the A/C generators had been seized because of the amount of money the venue owed to the power company.   Vondom Labs had to reproduce the entire event with 12 hours leadtime, which led to over $20,000 in damages, on top of the $10,000 deposit still not returned to the organization. Jacob, Charles and David have failed to comment on the status of this deposit. 

According to sources, MFB Events is owed approximately $5,000 in unpaid invoices from their work in the launch of Charles Roy and David Galpern's business pursuits.   Similarly to that of ShowFab, they have been advised to discontinue the pursuit of duly owed funds due to the expensive nature of litigation.   Consequently, Arts District skirted around their financial obligations to another vendor.  

According to sources, Graphic Installation Company was contracted by Arts District Brooklyn to install vinyl elements at the venue but was never paid. It was only after 10-20 calls a day and 30-40 emails a day to management for an extended period of time to receive partial payment.   Graphic Installation Company still has outstanding invoices while ADBK continues to use their work product to profit.