In 2022, Jon Martin was at the Ukrainian National Home, a nondescript building in Manhattan's East Village, where The Loft, a sacred institution of dance music, was getting into full swing. A glaring anomaly caught his attention: "The sound was terrible."

As someone who helped set up those treasured Klipschorns alongside Loft founder David Mancuso for over a decade, Martin knows what he's talking about. "The way that the system was originally designed, there's three left speakers and three right speakers, and one mono speaker in the middle—that middle one was out," he winced during our conversation at his Chelsea apartment. "Another was intermittently on and off." Mancuso, a pioneer of DJ culture who would have turned 80 on October 20th, devoted his life to his precisely-arranged Klipsch sound system. Reports of technical faults at his audiophile party are, to put it mildly, blasphemous.

Unfortunately, poor audio is just one of many issues clouding the legendary New York function. Nearly 55 years since its 1970 formalisation at Mancuso's Greenwich Village apartment, The Loft is mired in an ugly conflict between its most senior organisers that has resulted in two warring factions and a legal trademark dispute. Both accuse the other of power plays and causing the fracture. Each claims to safeguard The Loft in their mentor's absence. (All accusations mentioned in this story have been brought to the attention of relevant parties.)

"David and I had often talked at length about what he considered to be the future of the party," New York mainstay François Kevorkian, AKA François K, described to me. "I know that he spent a great deal of his time training people so that each of them knew what to do in order to keep things running as smoothly as they were expected to. But unfortunately, he may have left some unanticipated loose ends vulnerable, which have since been exploited."

Friction is common among people working on a shared goal, but it's especially distressing at The Loft, a holy space in underground music culture designed to transcend human pride. Built on a manifesto of egalitarianism, friendship and inclusivity, the get-together is modelled as a family-style reunion. Lofters are supposed to practise compassion and care with each other, not point fingers. "It's a scandal and David is turning in his grave now," lamented Giancarlo Bianchi, founder of Italy's The Last Note, a sister Loft party that he launched with Mancuso's blessing in 2013. "All of us feel sad and shocked by what has happened in New York."

The tensions have divided global Loft sponsors (Mancuso's preferred term for official members). Some have chosen sides in a situation that's devolved into rancour. Others are crestfallen to realise petty squabbles have invaded their precious sanctuary. It's a complicated story, made knotty by the fact that Lofters aren't meant to publicly air their dirty laundry, and knottier still by the fact the two sides are operating under similar names: The Loft Party LLC and The Loft Party NYC LLC.

The Loft Party NYC LLC has denied all accusations contained within this report. They provided the following email statement to Resident Advisor: "We firmly believe that such sensitive matters should not be subject to public debate in a forum where claims have been published without thorough investigation, and where much of the discourse is rooted in hearsay, inaccuracies and claims that are false. We affirm that our actions have been true to David's spirit of "Love Saves the Day," honouring his legacy and the community he cherished. David was clear that the internal affairs of The Loft, a private, invitation-only gathering, should remain private. For this reason, we decline to comment further."

Born as an exercise in collective revelation, The Loft is meant to be a force bigger than any individual, including Mancuso himself. But without him, it's clearly in trouble. "This [scandal] would have never happened if David was alive," said Mark 'Emkai' Heaslip, a DJ, music educator and UK native who attended the New York soirées religiously from 2011 to 2022. "When he passed, this enabled egos to want control of the party." Can a celebration that's preserved its purity and optimism for over five decades survive this spate of animosity?

As with most succession dramas, it all begins with the absence of an official will. Mancuso never left one but he was cognisant of the need to protect his life's work, his close friends told RA. That's why he created a booklet with exact instructions on how to throw The Loft, which RA has seen and reproduced in part above. Allegedly distributed to senior handlers, this manual details how to use test records, buy insurance, what audio equipment to pack and other administrative specificities. Some insiders speculate this was Mancuso's version of a will, suggesting that anyone in possession of this blueprint, sound system, records and the mailing list could throw the party just as the luminary intended.

Another step Mancuso took to future-proof his mission was creating a Loft board. In 2009, his London-based protégée Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy received an email from Mancuso in which the cult figure described his desire to set up "a non-for-profit foundation" to "protect the principles of the Loft tradition." In the same email—which RA has seen, and which features the offbeat approach to grammar that was a hallmark of Mancuso's style—he also requested Murphy, who first attended The Loft in '92, to be the "chairperson (president)" of this foundation. In another email to Murphy, this time dated 2011 and also seen by RA, Mancuso said he wanted to draw up "a living will" in the case of his death. "You [Murphy] would then have all rights to the name 100 percent," he wrote. "It will also allow us to set up the board, etc."

An unofficial board consisting of Mancuso and four of his trusted confidantes—Ernesto Green, Elyse Stefanishin, Donna Weiss and Murphy—was established, according to the latter three. Stefanishin, whose relationship with Mancuso stretches back to 1980, managed Loft logistics and protected his valuable Koetsu cartridges: the DNA of the sound system, crafted by Japanese sword maker and hi-fi aficionado Yoshiaki Sugano. Weiss handled The Loft's door for over 40 years, while Green is also a Loft old hand.

Today, Murphy, Weiss and Stefanishin, alongside Richard Horstman II, Mancuso's nephew and legal administrator of his estate, form The Loft Party LLC, one faction contending to carry The Loft's torch. (RA has seen the document certifying Horstman II's status as estate administrator.)

The board's presence instigated trouble among Loft acolytes mere days following Mancuso's death on November 14, 2016. "People were upset because David hadn't made them aware about the board's existence," Murphy, Weiss and Stefanishin told RA in a joint statement. The board then quickly expanded to include Horstman II and Douglas Sherman, a senior Loft organiser and friend of Mancuso's whose relationship with The Loft dates back to 1979. A committed disciple, Sherman housed and cared for Mancuso at one point.

In an email sent on November 21st, 2016, which RA has seen, Sherman requested other Lofters (Luis Vargas, Edowa Shimizu and Sandy Moon) to join the board. This frustrated Murphy, Weiss, Stefanishin and Horstman II. The next month, Sherman, Vargas and volunteers cleared out Mancuso's apartment. In an email sent to the board, seen by RA, Sherman apologised for not obtaining group consent ahead of time and explained his intentions in taking the initiative. This further aggravated Murphy, Weiss, Stefanishin and Horstman II.

Sherman's board additions were eventually included, resulting in a nine-person board operating as The Loft Party LLC. Parties continued with the consent of Mancuso's nephews, who allowed the board to use their uncle's sound system, records and The Loft name—all of which lawfully belong to Mancuso's estate.

Over the next few years, discord simmered. One 2019 email sent by Green, seen by RA, stated that "we have all agreed that whatever David had put in place will not guide us going forward." Murphy, Weiss, Stefanishin and Horstman II disagreed, arguing the board should always serve Mancuso's agenda. Geography plays its part: Murphy, Weiss and Horstman II don't reside in New York City while Stefanishin, who does, rarely goes out. The others, meanwhile, are active in the city and hosting events.

It was September 2022 when relations deteriorated completely. Sherman, Vargas, Shimizu, Moon and Green registered a new company called The Loft Party NYC LLC, hired a lawyer and announced they were excluding Horstman II and Murphy from organising future Loft parties. RA has seen documents and emails confirming this. The majority of funds from The Loft Party LLC's bank account were then withdrawn, allegedly without the other board members' knowledge. RA has seen the withdrawal statement.

Acting as The Loft Party NYC LLC, Sherman, Vargas, Green, Shimizu and Moon also "illegally took possession" of Mancuso's records, sound system, audio equipment, mirror ball and mailing list, according to Horstman II. His lawyer demanded The Loft Party NYC LLC return Mancuso's belongings and stop using his intellectual property, which Horstman II revealed to RA, went ignored. He's currently embroiled in a legal fight over The Loft trademark with The Loft Party NYC LLC. The case, filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, is still pending.

These developments caused grave consternation among sponsors. In October 2022, Jon Martin felt compelled to speak out against The Loft Party NYC LLC. In a public (and still available) Facebook post, Martin broke code and railed against how, in his belief, "this faction has hijacked the party and has unlawfully assumed control of all of David's belongings." Still, "I have faith," he concluded in the post, "that karma will eventually prevail and love will—once again—save the day."

Martin's loyalty to Mancuso stretches back to around '99 or 2000, when the pair met on the venerated, now-defunct message board Deep House Page. Martin, already a nightlife veteran who counted Frankie Knuckles as a friend and worked for notorious club promoter Michael Alig as a teenager, soon joined The Loft's pre-party crew. Martin stopped working in 2014 but continued attending until 2022, maintaining his friendship with Mancuso until the founder's passing. He counts Murphy as his "Loft sister," even listing her as family on Facebook.

That Facebook post marked the first time most Lofters discovered the accusations. It caused a seismic rift within the community and injected a shocking degree of turmoil into The Loft's cloistered utopia. Many old-school sponsors told RA that they stopped attending parties altogether. Loft-inspired festivities around the globe took sides. London's Lucky Cloud Sound System began working with The Loft Party NYC LLC, Murphy, a former resident, told RA. Lucky Cloud declined to be interviewed for this story. Italy's Last Note has said it supports The Loft Party LLC.

When a founder dies, it's common for doubts to engulf their empire, but every Lofter interviewed for this story said they never envisioned problems without Mancuso. All of them pointed to his widely-known belief of the party possessing a life of its own. "This party was more than David, it was a culture embodied by its attendees and organising crew, so I just expected it to go on as it had been," said Heaslip. "Not once did I ever think The Loft would stop or experience any issue as a result of him not being the impetus behind it."

The Loft Party NYC LLC continues to run gatherings in New York without the other board members. These nights are extremely popular and well-attended, supported by plenty of New Yorkers who are fully aware of the behind-the-scenes hostilities. Some punters question the accusations, wondering how the estate has been unable to legally retrieve Mancuso's belongings. Others said their party experience was unaffected, citing The Loft as a force field powered by its participants that blocks out negative frequencies.

"The Loft doesn't belong to any single crew, and until there's another option, this version is the only way we get The Loft's magic," said one Manhattan-based sponsor who spoke under the condition of anonymity. "We need The Loft, it gives us life. We're grateful it's still happening; it's still the best party in the world." Like many other attendees, they go to obtain their fix of euphoria and escapism. "I don't really care who's running the party as long as it continues. Nobody's supposed to control it anyways."

A popular Brooklyn-based DJ, who wished to protect his identity given the sensitivity of the matter, has been attending annually since 2013. He agreed, pointing to the huge following behind The Loft Party NYC LLC, noting how that gives the group a de facto mandate. They have volunteers who willingly help out and believe in the cause, he explained over email. "Even with the scandal, they stand by [Sherman]. They could have stopped working with him, but they didn't. The strength of The Loft lies in the community's collective decisions."

To that degree, another Lofter who also requested anonymity and has helped with setup from 2011 until the present day, working in close proximity with Sherman, said he attended shindigs "because of nostalgia and my friend base" even though he was unhappy about the scandal. What's a Loft lover to do—take a stance or separate the party from the politics?

"From a legal perspective, The Loft Party NYC LLC has no claim over David's legacy or possessions," Jacqueline Amedee, an entertainment lawyer who was a bosom pal of Mancuso's following their first encounter in the early 2000s, told RA. "It caused a lot of heartbreak," she added. "People were very disheartened and angry to know that David's family was robbed and blocked out of things."

François K compared the events of September 2022 to "a hostile takeover." He hasn't been to a party since. "I didn't feel attracted to even wanting to see what it became, it just hurt too much." He denounced how regulars were forced to pick a side due to self-interest or peer pressure. "It truly saddens me to think that this rift may forever have caused irreconcilable differences, which will mean a permanent splintering of a unique and vibrant community that once was whole."

These days, many attendees claim there's been a noticeable vibe shift at parties run by The Loft Party NYC LLC. Traditionally, sponsors are encouraged to selectively bring in new faces who resonate with The Loft's credo. Longhands now allege sponsorship has been expanded at such pace that a lack of familiar faces remain, bemoaning that fast-selling parties prioritise those who pay for tickets first instead of veterans. In Mancuso's aforementioned booklet, the invitation process was clearly outlined. To ensure newcomers wouldn't dominate, sponsors were added to the list in a particular order.

"It was very important to David to maintain a balance between old heads from East 3rd Street and Prince Street [two of The Loft's multiple locations] all the way up to young kids experiencing this for the first time," said Martin. "He saw it like a dinner party; you had to have the right balance of people who each contribute an energy."

DJ True, a native New Yorker who frequented both Paradise Garage and The Loft's East 3rd Street parties in the '80s, can testify to that. He remembered getting a call from Mancuso out of the blue in the early 2000s, when True's Loft attendance had dwindled. "It was surprising because I always called him," True told me with a smile. "He asked, 'Why haven't you been coming?' He treated me to lunch at an Italian spot he loved on 1st Avenue and personally invited me to come back as his guest."

In 2011, Heaslip became a sponsor, recalling that "it was one of the best moments of my life, getting the call from David Mancuso telling me I was accepted into The Loft family. He said, 'Now you have my home number so if you ever have any questions, please call me.' For such an infamous and respected individual, he really made me feel special during that conversation."

Today, according to Heaslip, newbies seek out sponsorship as a "cool currency." Amedee last attended a party earlier this year and said she didn't recognise "at least 80 percent" of faces. "There was no room secured for the original Lofters." She believes The Loft Party NYC LLC is "trying to get as many people in the door as possible." It's become "a money gig," she warned. Heaslip mirrored those thoughts: "This is going to become, or is already, a profit-making thing."

A more accessible sponsorship programme, some say, aligns with contemporary dance culture's investment in developing new audiences and pushing back on the fustier elements of old-school gatekeeping. These are fair charges. Many OG Lofters are also ageing and simply don't go out as often as they used to.

But while turnover for any party is natural, particularly for one that celebrated its 30th anniversary before the 21st century, the sheer influx of new faces is crowding the dance floor, which is deleterious to The Loft experience.

"There was no room on the main dance floor," True agreed with a sigh, referring to the 54th anniversary party that he attended. He practises a style of house dancing called Lofting, but says "if there's no space for me to loft at The Loft, there's no point in me being there." In recent years, the venue's downstairs floor was opened, but being disconnected from the source of the music just didn't feel right, he told me with a grimace.

Then there's the sacrilegious complaints about the music policy and poor sound, which breach Mancuso's core values.

"Musically, the selections also felt very safe," continued True. "Whereas David picked very exciting records to play, this version of the party played more commercially-friendly music, like the Prince and [David] Bowie tracks you hear on the radio." The "boring" music is why one longtime promoter has stopped going in the two years since The Loft Party NYC LLC took over. "They play the same corny disco and funk records," she told RA.

When it comes to sound at The Loft, many lifers believe that anything short of perfection is tantamount to a cardinal sin. "The speakers were cutting out, they sounded like they were over modulating, there was distortion," True remarked. "That's a huge insult to David's legacy. David was a man who would stand with his handheld sound metre [before parties], making sure everything's at exactly 0 dB throughout."

The Brooklyn DJ, who tests speakers for a living, put it in more damning terms: "The speakers there suck. They don't meet modern standards. I've heard better sound in mediocre clubs."

That one of the most influential and lionised gatherings in the history of dance music is caught up in a situation this unsavoury is, plainly, a shame. It's a shame for sponsors, a shame for both sides of the dispute, a shame for future devotees who may never find their calling—and, crucially, a shame for Mancuso's philosophy.

In the eyes of Murphy, Weiss and Stefanishin, "the true Loft is on hiatus" and its current iteration "is only a temporary setback." Mancuso himself took Loft hiatuses or sabbaticals, noticeably for a chunk of the '80s, so "this isn't the first time The Loft has had a break," Murphy noted. The trio remain optimistic for brighter days ahead. "I have all the confidence that, at the proper time, not only will the truth prevail, but that David's visions will prevail," Weiss declared. Stefanishin also affirmed her confidence in returning The Loft "to its original form."

For now, The Loft Party LLC has no plans to launch its own New York party. Even if it were to regain Mancuso's equipment and win the trademark case, The Loft Party NYC LLC can still throw parties under a different name, which could further confuse an already frazzled Loft crowd. Whether those who presently attend The Loft Party NYC LLC would cross over en masse remains to be seen.

Question marks now loom over The Loft's future and its revered reputation. Has the globally renowned motto of "Love Saves the Day" been soured amid this bad blood? The party's myth was anchored around its ability to provide respite from reality, but with that under threat, where does that leave Mancuso's Arcadian ideology of neighbourly love?

"David's vision has been trampled by those who facilitated this coup," solemnly concluded the anonymous organiser. Others were more hopeful. "A vision does not die because someone's ego is purposely misinterpreting it," asserted Amedee.

While it's unclear how The Loft Party NYC LLC plans to proceed, there's one hard-won lesson from this mess. It's "a warning call to all of us," said François K. "It's important to take all necessary legal steps to protect our legacy, plus set guidelines and guardrails in place that will allow for initiatives to continue thriving in our absence."

The key to longevity in any field is adaptation, which raises debate as to whether The Loft should evolve beyond Mancuso's ethos. Is it time to embrace new customs? And if so, would it still be The Loft? Opinions are divided between the new and old guard. In New York City, where change is always constant, few nightlife ventures have survived past the age of 50.

This all begs the question of whether The Loft had to end at some point. Was it bound to eventually run its course in a city synonymous with rapid-fire urban development and capricious cultural trends?

Purists vehemently rejected that idea. Murphy pointed to challenges in Mancuso's own lifetime: "He suffered a series of betrayals that resulted in his mailing list, sound equipment and even his building on East 3rd Street stolen from him." Yet, she insisted, he prevailed and the party eventually rebounded. "The Loft is an idealistic social experiment that David fine-tuned for nearly half a century, but if driven by and executed with integrity, it always works."

"The party will always go on if it stays true to David's vision and principles," echoed Bianchi. For the Italian native, as for many who hold Mancuso dear, that if does substantial heavy lifting—and the answer is self-explanatory. "Right now, the real Loft party sleeps."