The body of a Goldman Sachs analyst who vanished after a concert at the Brooklyn Mirage was pulled from the waters of Newtown Creek on Tuesday less than half a mile from where he went missing, police said.
John Castic, a 27-year-old Illinois native who lived in Lower Manhattan, disappeared after leaving the Bushwick hotspot at about 3 a.m. Saturday, according to the NYPD.
At about 11 a.m. Tuesday, a man spotted a bloated, shirtless body floating face-down in the English Kills, a branch of the East River tributary, near 1100 Grand St.
The man called the cops, who sent the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit to recover the body, which was later identified as Castic, cops and sources said.The body had no obvious signs of trauma, apart from drowning, police sources said.
Castic was remembered Tuesday as an “amazing person” by his close friend, Sara Kostecka of Chicago.
“He is very charismatic, high-energy with a good sense of humor,” Kostecka, 25, told The Post. “Whatever happened, he did not deserve this.”
She added that Castic was a “very responsible individual” who would not just disappear.
“This is atypical behavior,” she said.
Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon said Castic was a “dedicated, driven member” of the investment bank’s controllers team.
“We are all shocked and saddened to learn of John’s tragic passing,” Solomon said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with his mother Dawn, his father Jeff, and his entire family at this very difficult time. John will be deeply missed by his Goldman Sachs family.”
Other friends remembered the young man as someone who was quick with a smile and a joke.
“Whenever I was out with him he’d make me laugh — he was the best guy to have a drink with,” Eamon Stenson, a 30-year-old who works in sales and met Castic on a kickball team two years ago, told The Post.
“He loved everybody and everybody loved him,” Stenson continued. “I haven’t met a single person that didn’t have a good time with John, or want to be like John. Everybody loved him.”
William Sullivan, a 31-year-old who works in finance, echoed that when he said Castic was “always a fun guy to be around.”
Castic wasn’t alone at the concert, Sullivan said. But he left on his own after he started feeling ill.
“It was late, the concert was almost over, and he decided to call an Uber and just leave,” Sullivan said.
“We don’t know if he got in [though] … We just wish we knew more, had some video or something of how he ended up in the water.”
One of Castic’s roommates said police broke the news to him of his friend’s death.
“I was holding onto hope,” he said. “We are sitting here. We are stunned, people are crying. We don’t even know what to do.”
The roommate — who did not want his name published — said he was home when Castic left to go see electronic music group Zeds Dead at about 8:30 p.m. on Friday night.
But Castic never returned.
A friend of Castic’s called the roommate at about 5 p.m. on Saturday, when he was at the gym.
“His friend said, ‘Hey, have you seen your roommate, John? Where is John?’” the roommate told The Post. “And I said, ‘I haven’t been at the apartment, I’ve been out all day … But I’ll go check.’”
He didn’t find him.
“He’s just a regular guy, like any other 27- or 28-year-old,” the roommate said. “He has no enemies … he was very even-keeled, he was not confrontational, nothing like that. I don’t understand this … it shouldn’t be happening.”
It’s the second time in weeks that a man vanished near The Brooklyn Mirage and was found dead in the same creek.
That man — Karl Clemente, age 27 —was turned away from the venue on June 11.
His body was found in Newtown Creek a few days later, sources have said.
It’s not clear if either man was the victim of foul play, though sources said Clemente’s death did not appear suspicious.
The venue from which they both came reportedly has a shadowy history that’s led to protracted battles with the New York State Liquor Authority, which grants businesses their liquor licenses.
Over the last half-decade, state regulators have pointed to “rampant” drug use at the facility — as well as several deaths among those who went to events there, according to Gothamist.
A state attorney accused the venue in a 2020 court filing of operating “a place for teenagers and young adults to get high on Ecstasy, Ketamine and other drugs while loud music plays,” the site said.
And last year, bags and wrappers found there tested positive for heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy, according to an outside monitor’s report to the liquor authority.
The venue’s owner, Juergen “Billy” Bildstein, says the liquor authority is targeting his operation, which has been heavily fined and told to employ the special monitor to watch its operations, Gothamist said.
That hasn’t escaped the attention of Jennifer Gutierrez, the city councilwoman who represents the 34th District.
Officials have told kids for years that the northern Brooklyn industrial zone where the venue is perched isn’t always the safest place, Gutierrez said.
She added that she’d spoken to one of the Mirage’s owners, who she said is “troubled” by the story.
“They have already implemented a lot of safety investments to the venue, but the reality for them is — What can we do once people leave?” she told The Post. “You want people to get home. You never want people to be missing. You never want them to be found not alive so … it’s heartbreaking.
