Dave Gaidowski
By Holly Dutton
A Virginia transplant is shaking things up in Greenpoint after ditching his DJ headphones (during the daytime at least) and donning a suit as one of Miron Properties’ newest agents.
Dave Gaidowski, originally from Virginia Beach, VA, subleased his former DJ accessories and music store to Miron Properties — and then joined the team.
Several months ago, Gaidowski made the unlikely transition after learning Miron Properties was looking for office space in Greenpoint. Almost overnight, his store turned into a real estate office.
The unlikely combination of broker/DJ hasn’t stopped Gaidowski from finding success in selling and renting properties in his beloved Greenpoint.
“I’ve been living in Greenpoint for 10 years and I love it,” he said. “I know it like the back of my hand, and that’s why I think I’ve done so well here.”
Gaidowski has been DJ’ing since 1997, during his days as a business administration major at Virginia Commonwealth University. He also helped organize and promote shows.
His best friend in college was busy screenprinting clothing when Gaidowski talked him into moving to New York City following graduation and creating a street line of clothes.
Once in the city, the pair started a clothing line, Methods NYC, in 2004, a successful venture that has sold items throughout the US and to more than a dozen countries worldwide.
The line focuses on street-wear, including t-shirts, hoodies and hats, based on the DJ culture scene. As 2013 approaches, Gaidowski said they will be focusing primarily on DJ accessories.
The store has sponsored many top artists in electronic music, and most of the staff have been artists, producers and promoters on the scene.
A key figure in the Dubstep scene, a genre that has quickly become ensconced within mainstream music, in 2007 Gaidowski founded Darkroom, a hugely popular monthly dubstep event in Brooklyn.
Gaidowski has performed at annual music conference South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, and at the Winter Music Conference and Starscape Festival.
“I came up here and did it [the clothing line] out of my apartment,” he said. The business was primarily online-based, but he opened up a retail store in Greenpoint in 2008.
Once Gaidowski and his partner decided to transition the clothing line into DJ accessories, he decided he didn’t need the retail store. And once a friend of his who is an agent tipped him off that Miron Properties was looking for a location in Greenpoint, everything fell into place.
“I got my license and jumped right in,” he said.
After starting out part-time, he soon switched to full-time and hasn’t looked back.
“I was always very interested in real estate, especially in New York,” he said. “I was always very curious about it. It kind of just fell in my lap.”
Living two blocks from the office doesn’t hurt either.
The office, at 162 Huron Street, has 10 agents. Miron’s main office is in the East Village and has 50 agents.
Business boomed this summer for Gaidowski, who also works in Williamsburg, Bushwick and Park Slope.
“We’re quickly becoming known as the go-to office in Greenpoint,” he said “We’ve done really well, we probably rented out 100 to 150 apartments this summer.”
Gaidowski is still a thriving DJ, performing live at notable venues like Santos Party House and the Highline Ballroom, and recording and releasing albums.
