Recap: Last Night’s Nightlife Town Hall Meeting And Why You NEED To Get Involved3 comments

When Grub Street said this meeting was going to be doozy, I knew I needed to attend. So along with Kristina Marino from The Downtown Diaries, we schlepped over to P.S. 20 in the LES. Let me tell you: people, especially old people, HATE nightlife.

They also made some of the most asinine comments I have ever heard, even from some of my readers. So instead of boring you with the details of the LONGEST MEETING I HAVE EVER ATTENDED, I will give you the nitty-gritty along with some of the more colorful comments.

• In attendance:
  • SLA Chairman Dennis Rosen
  • SLA Deputy CEO Michael Jones
  • SLA Licensing Director Kerry O’Brien
  • NY State Senator Daniel Squadron
  • Darin Rubell and Josh Boyd (Ella, Gallery Bar and the soon-to-open Blind Barber)
  • Scott Sartiano and Matthew Rosen (owner and manager, respectively, of 1Oak.)
  • Ariel Palitz of  Sutra
  • and  a guy who I’m pretty sure was Scott Solish.
• Key issues:
  • Good operators v. bad operators
  • zoning (500 foot rule, transfers, beer and wine licenses v. full licenses)
  • effective policing
  • smoking ban
  • cabaret units in police precincts.
• Thoughts/quotes from the residents:
  • On certain blocks there are TOO many bars/restaurants/clubs.
  • Stumble Bum is out of control (that’s the band that randomly takes over places and plays music)
  • Hotels are becoming a loophole to add more restaurants/bars/clubs to a block.
  • “Maybe the smoking ban should be repealed to keep people out of the street.” (SLA’s response: “that is an issue to take up with the mayor.”
  • “I live on the fifth floor and I can’t even hear what my wife is saying.”
  • “I’m the one who has to clean up the vomit and urine outside of my door.”
  • “Talk to me when you have to clean up the beer and pizza someone threw up on your steps.)
  • “I’m tired of flooding the 311 call logs.”
  • “Isn’t it possible to run a restaurant without a liquor license?”
• Thoughts/quotes from the owners:
  • There is a couple who has spent over $400,000 in rent while they wait to find out if their application has been approved. It’s been 11 months.
  • Residents are moving into neighborhoods that are deemed “cool or hot” because there are a lot of nightclubs and then they complain about the noise. (Residents of the Caledonia in OuCh/Outer Chelsea)
  • Small shop owners and 24 hour shop owners depend on nightlife traffic. These patrons keep their stores in business.
  • “Manhattan is not Brooklyn, it’s not the suburbs, it’s not New Jersey and it’s not Staten Island.”
  • “What would happen if everyone closed up and left?”
  • “You’re complaining about professional twenty-somethings on your corner. Would you rather it go back to being gang members and drug dealers?”
  • “What would you rather clean up? Vomit or blood?”
  • “This is AMERICA. We have freedom to congregate. Isn’t that why your parents moved here?”
  • “People love Manhattan because it has a pulse. We are that pulse.”

There are a LOT of people fighting to rid their communities of nightlife venues and they win. Often. Hell, we’ve seen them win twice in a very short period of time (R.I.P. Beatrice and Jane) but if they get their way, it will be much more difficult to open a new space, especially if that address has been denied a license in the past, it will take much longer to get a license, and venues will be closing up left and right.

For most people who read this blog, including myself, nightlife pays the bills. It’s very easy to read about these occurrences. But when you see their unity and their anger, you realize that they mean business and stand a fighting chance. So do yourself a favor and attend the next one of these meetings. You don’t want to go back to a office job do you?

P.S. And nightlife blogs should do their part. This means NOT creating lists of the best places to smoke indoors or drink underage. I understand we are reporters, but at the end of the day, you really need to know which side you’re on. I love nightlife and will always support the owners and managers who are breaking their necks so that I can have things to write about. Even Scott Sartiano and Richie Akiva

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