After 91 Years, New York Will Let Its People Boogie
- 7 years ago
After 91 Years, New York Will Let Its People Boogie
“When we stop people from dancing, they go straight to these warehouses,” Mr. Barclay said, recalling a recent deadly fire in the Ghost Ship
warehouse in Oakland, Calif. “People haven’t stopped dancing, they’re just dancing in these extremely unsafe, unregulated environments.”
The advocates testified at hearings, lobbied council members and addressed concerns raised by community boards.
Andrew Muchmore, a lawyer and bar owner, filed a still-pending lawsuit against the city after his bar, Muchmore’s, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was slapped with
a cabaret violation in 2013 by a police officer who spotted people “swaying” at a rock show while investigating a noise complaint, Mr. Muchmore said.
A spokesman for the mayor, Ben Sarle, said in an email, “The mayor strongly supports repealing the law,” though he emphasized the need to retain some of its security requirements, such as mandatory security cameras
and certified security guards at larger venues, which were added to the existing law in the last 15 years.
Though the law has not been aggressively enforced since the Giuliani administration, it keeps bar
and club owners “living in fear,” said Mr. Espinal, and pushes dancers from safe, regulated spaces into potentially hazardous underground ones.
“When we stop people from dancing, they go straight to these warehouses,” Mr. Barclay said, recalling a recent deadly fire in the Ghost Ship
warehouse in Oakland, Calif. “People haven’t stopped dancing, they’re just dancing in these extremely unsafe, unregulated environments.”
The advocates testified at hearings, lobbied council members and addressed concerns raised by community boards.
Andrew Muchmore, a lawyer and bar owner, filed a still-pending lawsuit against the city after his bar, Muchmore’s, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was slapped with
a cabaret violation in 2013 by a police officer who spotted people “swaying” at a rock show while investigating a noise complaint, Mr. Muchmore said.
A spokesman for the mayor, Ben Sarle, said in an email, “The mayor strongly supports repealing the law,” though he emphasized the need to retain some of its security requirements, such as mandatory security cameras
and certified security guards at larger venues, which were added to the existing law in the last 15 years.
Though the law has not been aggressively enforced since the Giuliani administration, it keeps bar
and club owners “living in fear,” said Mr. Espinal, and pushes dancers from safe, regulated spaces into potentially hazardous underground ones.