Globe-trotting hipster empire Vice Media has helped make Williamsburg, Brooklyn to what it is now by installing offices there way before the neighbourhood gentrified into the mecca for young creative people, music and food. All of sudden, however, the media empire has become the target of animosity in its own backyard. The issue is Vice’s expansion in the ‘hood, involving moving into about 60,000 square feet of real estate that used to house indie music clubs by the likes of Death By Audio and Glasslands, both of which are closing now. Some see the changes as a sign that Vice, which has grown from a Montreal based magazine into a Brooklyn based multimedia empire backed by Silicon Valley venture capital and Rupert Murdoch, has eject itself from the scene it helped build and expand. Tim Harrington of the band Les Savy Fav took the stage during one of Death By Audio’s final shows with ‘Suck It Vice’ written on his body. The week before, during a DIY art show at Death By Audio, someone had painted ‘Fuck You Shane’ on a wall – probably a reference to Vice’s co-founder and CEO Shane Smith.

Vice has reacted by saying it keeps backing musicians and artists in Williamsburg as much as ever: “Vice has been in Williamsburg for 15 years. Over that time very few companies have supported the neighborhood’s independent bands, artists, freelancers and creatives more than Vice. As we move into the new space we will expand our efforts to support the same community we always have in new and larger ways,” a spokesman said in a statement.

Valued at $2.5 billion with investments from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, A&E Networks (owned by Disney and Hearst) and Technology Crossover Ventures, all of this might seem like a non-issue for Vice. After winning an Emmy for its HBO series, rolling out a news channel over YouTube, striking a plan for a TV network with Canada’s Rogers Communications, and just having announced a new music site in collab with Live Nation, it has just signed former Obama administration official Alyssa Mastramonaco as their chief operating officer.

Nonetheless, Vice presents itself as the ‘Time Warner of the streets’, a counterculture alternative to traditional companies such as CNN and The New York Times. Maintaining their ‘street image’ will only get more difficult as the company keeps expanding.

(via)