Tomorrow evening, the Office of Nightlife (
night mayor!) is hosting the fifth stop — the Manhattan leg — of
a five-borough listening tour "to hear comments, concerns, and ideas for strengthening New York’s distinctive nightlife."
It takes place at the Town Hall on West 43rd Street from 5:30 to 8 p.m. (RSVP at this
link.)
Here's more from a press advisory via the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment yesterday morning:
Established earlier this year within the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, the Office of Nightlife serves as a central point of contact between City agencies, nightlife business owners, residents, employees, and patrons, promoting a safe and vibrant nightlife scene beneficial to businesses and communities across the five boroughs.
Led by the Office of Nightlife’s senior executive director Ariel Palitz, this listening session is designed to inform the Office of Nightlife as it pursues policy recommendations and long-term solutions to ensure the vitality of New York’s nightlife. The Office of Nightlife welcomes all New Yorkers to share feedback on topics such as quality of life, safety, regulations, enforcement, and the role nightlife plays in fostering creativity and social cohesion.
Aside from Palitz, attendees will include Julie Menin, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President, and other local elected officials.
Neighborhoods United, a coalition of citywide block associations, is helping spread the word about the session. Nora Breen, a rep for the group, says that to date, there hasn't been adequate advance notice about the listening sessions, especially within Community Board 3, where there are multiple quality-of-life issues related to nightlife and liquor-license
saturation. (CB3's district manager, Susan Stetzer, is also one of the 14 members of NYC's first-ever Nightlife Advisory Board,
appointed back in July by the mayor.)
"The Nightlife Mayor's Listening Tours in Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn have been poorly publicized and stocked with nightlife industry insiders," Breen said. "So far, the voices overwhelmingly weighing in are from developers, bar/hotel/club operators, lobbyists, liquor lawyers and nightlife insiders."
In its coverage of the Brooklyn stop last month,
Bedford & Bowery reported that Palitz was "truly surprised" how few "residents" came out to speak.
And leading up to tomorrow night's event, Neighborhoods United distributed these flyers...
The Town Hall is at 123 W. 43rd St. between Sixth Avenue and Broadway.
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