Advertisement 5 Investigates: Illegal late-night parties raise serious safety concerns Share Shares Copy Link Copy

It’s 11 o’clock on a Friday night in Allston, but the party is just getting started inside 30 Penniman St., where a secret late-night party is getting underway.Watch the reportIt was no problem for the Northeastern University journalism students, working with 5 Investigates’ Mike Beaudet, to get in. They bought tickets online for $25 each and then received an email with the location the day of the party.In one room, there was music from a Ukrainian DJ named iO. In another, a cash bar, no ID required.“It was a cash-only bar that you would pay $3 for beer, $5 for hard alcohol,” said one Northeastern student who attended the party.“I bet this one will be nice and smooth,” the bartender said as he poured a rum and Coke.There were also some people using drugs, what looked like marijuana and cocaine.“They were very open about it, it wasn't really discreetly done,” the student said.“There was also a man with a velvet drawstring bag and he'd walk around and take things out of pill bottles and then take money for it,” said another Northeastern student.5 Investigates discovered there have been more than 30 of these underground music events in and around Boston in the last two years, from Boston to Somerville to Everett.There's one common theme with all of these parties: They're off the radar, so officials have no idea they're even happening.“My concern is the inappropriate use of space that puts people in a dangerous situation,” said Boston Inspectional Services Department Commissioner William “Buddy” Christopher.“I imagine the organizers would say, 'Commissioner, you're no fun,'” 5 Investigates’ Mike Beaudet asked him.“Absolutely. It's not my job to be fun,” he replied.The commissioner said parties like these require all sorts of approvals for all sorts of reasons, from being able to sell alcohol to making sure people inside can get out safely if there's a fire.“We've heard about the station fire,” Christopher said referring to The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island in 2003, where 100 people died. “And you saw the worst possible result of a situation like that.”The Allston event was put on by Community Links, which turned down our request for an interview saying "...it could get us into a lot of trouble." and "...it could potentially bring unwanted attention to the events we have been working tirelessly on."Dusk Till Done is another underground event organizer which also did not want to be interviewed."(T)he underground stays underground by not making it public sorry. (W)e don’t need anymore attention than we already get for obvious reasons."The late night events, which are known to last until at least 5 in the morning, come as Boston Mayor Marty Walsh pushes to allow bars to stay open later.At the mayor's request, State Sen. Will Brownsberger, D-Belmont filed a bill to allow bars in some communities to stay open later.“I think there's a case for it and a demand for it and the question is where.”He says he doesn't know if later bar hours would cut down on underground music events.“You want this to go through some Boston City Council hearings where people can come in, talk about what's really going on. Shine a light on it and figure out how to let people have fun and keep them safe,” Brownsberger said.30 Penniman St. has been cited in the past for building code violations and Boston Police broke up an unlicensed concert there in a different unit in 2013.The landlord insists he had no idea about the underground music event held in his building earlier this month and says he's now looking at adding security and evicting the tenants.This investigation was reported on for a seminar in investigative reporting taught by 5 Investigates’ Mike Beaudet who is also a journalism professor at Northeastern University.Get the WCVB News App