How Big is New York Nightlife? Part II

By Gamal Hennessy

Last night I described the size and scope of nightlife venues and what they do to directly stimulate the economy. Today we’ll look at the other side of the equation and look at the economic activity of patrons in New York clubs.

Patron Population

All the venues and operators are useless without someone to actually serve. The 2004 Impact Study concluded that the attendance in New York clubs is more than 65,000,000 entries per year. Keep in mind that ‘entries’ is not a direct measure of the number of people who patronize nightlife on an annual basis, since club hopping and bar crawling could take one person to several venues in a night. A tourist might hit a club on her vacation in New York. A nightlife native might visit 50 or 60 venues in a year. Although total entries do not translate directly into 65,000,000 patrons, it is more than three times the amount of attendance at all 8 New York sports teams combined. 64% of nightlife patrons live within the five boroughs with each New York native visiting an average of 2.14 clubs per night out. The other 36% of all nightlife patrons came into the city from out of town and they visit an average of 2 venues per stay.

Cash Flow

Pre-Club Activity: Patrons don’t just magically appear on the dance floor at night. There are many activities that they engage in and spend money on before the night begins. The Study found that each native spent an average of $67 per person on these ‘pre-club’ activities including purchasing clothing, dining out and other activities. In addition, 82% of patrons used some form of transportation to get to the venue, for another $15 per person. So in total, each New York resident spent about $80 before she even walks inside the club. Tourist spending at non nightlife venues was even higher than resident spending. 86% of tourists people engaged in some other activity when they went to a club including dinner shopping, but also including hotels, theaters and sightseeing for an average of $90 per person. The out of town group also spent an average of $110 to get to and from the city and the venues they decided to visit, bringing their per person spending total to almost $200.

Liquor Purchases: The Study and the Zagat guide don’t estimate how much patrons spend when they are actually in a venue, but we can develop an educated guess. In our estimate, we’re going to assume that a person goes into a bar or club and buys four drinks; two for himself and two for the person he is with. I’m assuming a social unit of two, even though larger groups are just as common in clubs. I’m also assuming basic manners here, which means people not going Dutch. This might be overly optimistic in New York City, but in my experience New Yorkers can be very generous with alcohol, especially if they’ve already had a drink or two.

To keep things simple, I’m not including cover fees, coat check fees or bottle service, which would raise the numbers exponentially Let’s say each drink is $10. This is an average between the $5 beer and the $15 martini. That means in every club this guy goes into, our theoretical patron spends a total of $40. Let’s project that out to the total group. If there are 65,000,000 entries per year and only half of them pay for drinks then that’s 32,500,000 “drink entries” per year. If each drink entry is worth $40, then the estimated spending by nightlife patrons in clubs is 1.3 billion dollars.

Effect on the City

The amount of jobs, patronage and spending in nightlife might seem abstract until you put it in context. To place the numbers in perspective, we can look at the local film industry. According to the Mayor’s Office for Film, Theater and Broadcasting, local TV and movie production generates $5 billion dollars in economic activity for the city. In comparison, nightlife generates twice the revenue. The film industry has a government office to support and promote it. Nightlife has no such office despite repeated calls from operators to create it. If and when the city puts its full support behind the nightlife industry the benefit to the city could rise exponentially.

Have fun.
Gamal

How Big is New York Nightlife?

By Gamal Hennessy

There is a movement building to transform millions of nightlife patrons into a political force. As organizations like the Nightlife Preservation Community begin to gain momentum, it makes sense to look at what nightlife brings to the New York economy in hard numbers. When you look at the number of jobs, the number of patrons, the amounts the clubs spend and the amounts the patrons spend you begin to see how vital nightlife is to the financial health of the city.

Where the numbers come from
The New York Nightlife Association (NYNA) is an organization that represents the nightlife industry in New York. The NYNA commissioned a study in 1998 and again in 2004 called “The $9 Billion Dollar Impact of the Nightlife Industry on New York City”. Two weeks ago, Zagat released its 2009-2010 New York nightlife Guide with an updated analysis of the club industry. The numbers in this article are based on these two studies and my own calculations. The numbers coming out of the study have been verified, but since I can hardly add, my calculations are suspect at best.

Venues and Operators
According to Zagat, New York City currently has more than 1,300 nightlife venues, including 100 new venues added in the past year. This finding is supported by our own Trends Report that has continued to track new venues opening almost every week in spite of the economy. While there is no mention of how many venues were lost in 2008, the number of new venues is remarkable considering the economy and the stiff competition for drinking dollars.

Each venue needs several different people on hand to service and entertain customers on a nightly basis. The employees included management, security, bartenders, bar backs, dancers, waitresses, sound and light technicians and food service people such as cooks and chefs. It did not cover people who worked in the club, but were not direct employees of the venue, like musicians, DJ’s and promoters. According to the Impact Study, each bar has an average of 17 people on staff and each nightclub having approximately 38 people working there for an average of 27 operators per venue. That means that the total number of operators currently hovers around 35,000 people. The secondary group of natives who work in the club but do not work for the club is also considerable. Based on the study, nightlife generates 8,600 more local jobs as a direct result of its activities. This means that nightlife employs almost 44,000 people locally.

Spending by Operators

Wages: There are three major costs that operators pay for to keep their businesses running; wages, operational costs and taxes. Employees on the payroll of venues earn approximately $531,000,000 in wages and salaries every year. Freelance operators pull in more than $320,000,000 dollars per year. I can tell you from personal experience that the distribution of these funds varies wildly. If an unknown DJ spins at a club, she might get free drinks. If I DJ at a club, I might get $250 for a night. If a superstar DJ spins for a night, he could get several thousand dollars. While the distribution of these funds fluctuates there is still more than $850,000,000 in wages being generated by this industry, with a majority of those funds getting pumped back into the local economy.

Operational Costs: A bar or club has to purchase a significant amount of goods and services in order to offer its service to the public. While liquor and food are obvious examples, venues also have to purchase capital improvements to their spaces, furniture, cleaning and sanitation, electricity, climate control, accounting, legal advice, advertising, marketing, permits, music licensing fees and financial services. According to the Impact Study, nightlife spends more than $755,000 million dollars worth of goods and services in the city every year.

Taxes: Nightlife venues have to pay business taxes, sales and use taxes and in certain cases real estate taxes to stay in operation. The employees have to pay income taxes on the wages that they have earned (although I believe some payments are made on a cash basis to avoid taxation). The Impact Study estimates that nightlife pays the almost $104,000,000 million dollars a year in taxes to New York City and another $46,000,000 million dollars to New York State.

Part II of this study will be available tomorrow…

Have fun.
Gamal

A New Fight Over New Bars

By Gamal Hennessy

Hidden away from the major media outlets, a struggle is brewing over the nightlife industry in New York. The fight revolves around the laws that govern bars and the way nightlife is perceived. The latest battle in this conflict concerns the Beverage Control Law and how it is interpreted. Anti nightlife groups are planning to change current SLA law to serve their own interests and if their influence isn’t counterbalanced nightlife will suffer.

The current law requires a public hearing for any potential liquor license opening up within 500 feet of two other licenses. If you consider how dense New York is, you’ll quickly realize that almost every new venue requires a 500 foot hearing. Residents who oppose nightlife venues in general often use the 500 foot rule to protest the opening of new venues.

A judge in a recent court case involving Hudson Terrace held that a 500 foot hearing is only necessary for establishments of the same type, not for any liquor license. For example if a bar wants to open up within 500 feet of three other bars, then a hearing is required. But if a bar wants to open up within 500 feet of three clubs, or two clubs and a restaurant, or a club a restaurant and a cabaret, then no hearing is required.

Anti-nightlife elements within the city don’t plan to lose their main weapon without a fight. Daniel Squadron, a new State Senator who turned his back on nightlife before he was even elected, plans to re-write the law to tighten the restrictions and circumvent the judges ruling. He claims that “the decision undermines the spirit of the law”, so the law needs to be fixed.

There are at least three unspoken concepts that are flawed when it comes to the way anti nightlife elements deal with the 500 foot hearing process. First, they assume that more venues are automatically a problem. However, it is just as likely that more venues could reduce crowding and increase revenue for the city and the state. Second, there is an assumption that the community board is the best forum for making decisions about additional nightlife venues. But that body does not and cannot take in to account the cultural and financial impact of the venue on the city. Third, that the BCL needs to be changed to inhibit and restrict nightlife growth when in fact much of the law dates back to Prohibition and needs to be revised not to inhibit nightlife but to bring the law in line with the realities and needs of nightlife in the 21st century.

The BCL does need to be revised and the 500 foot rule needs to be examined but pro-nightlife and anti-nightlife groups need to weigh in on the subject. People concerned with the character of the individual neighborhoods and the viability of the city overall need to be heard. Hopefully organizations like the NYNA and the NPC will get involved with this issue and prevent further erosion of nightlife in New York.

Have fun.
Gamal

New Political Group Forms to Enhance New York Nightlife

By Gamal Hennessy

Unless you are having a heated political discussion over beers, nightlife and politics don’t usually mix. Think about it, what does politics have to do with grabbing a drink with your friends, chatting up a girl for her phone number and dancing like no one is watching? Why not sit back, have a good time, and leave politics for the politicians?

That isn’t a good idea because if we don’t see nightlife as a political issue, we don’t have a voice. Various groups including community boards, law enforcement agencies, and real estate developers weigh in on what they want in relation to nightlife. The only major group that does not have a seat at the table to push its agenda is us. Patrons do not have an organization that directly represents their needs or even defines what those needs are.

A group of nightlife advocates are taking steps to improve this situation by creating the Nightlife Preservation Committee (NPC). Utilizing their ability to reach voters, their substantial connections in media and entertainment and the financial strength of their industry, the NPC plans to be a forum for nightlife that has not been seen in local politics before.

In the short term, the NPC plans to establish political influence in the New York City primaries by reaching out to almost 500,000 club goers who are also registered voters. That voting block could make or break the career of an aspiring politician, since local primaries are often decided by only a few thousand votes. At the same time, the NPC want to act as a bridge, connecting nightlife patrons to the local community, law enforcement, health agencies and other groups that have not seen eye to eye in the past. In the long term the NPC plans to represent the interests of the nightlife community as the issues and concerns about nightlife evolve.

The members of the NPC were kind enough to let me sit down with them as they planned their inaugural event, which is scheduled for June 22nd at M2. I met with Ariel Palitz (Sutra), Steven Lewis (Good Night Mr. Lewis), David Rabin (the New York Nightlife Association), Paul Seres (Sol), Morgan McLean (Rebel) and Paul Insalaco (BF9 Media). I posed several questions to the group to get a better idea of how they planned to connect nightlife and politics.

NYN: What are the long term goals of the NPC?
David Rabin: “In the broadest sense, we want to have an impact on state and local politics as they relate to the nightlife industry.”

Steven Lewis: “We want to revive the concept that New York is the City That Never Sleeps in the same way that Vegas embraced the concept of What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas. We want to spotlight the link between the prosperity of the city and the prosperity of our industry in the same way that the two concepts are connected in Vegas and Miami.”

Are you planning to use the NPC as a pro-nightlife organization to counter anti-nightlife groups within NYC?
Ariel Palitz: “We aren’t trying to polarize the discussion. We don’t want one group of people to automatically vote against any new club. We also don’t want anyone to fight for every venue as a knee jerk reaction. Our goal is to have each venue and each issue judged on its own merits.”

Paul Seres: We are trying to create a more balanced discussion, rather than increase the level of conflict between nightlife and the community. Most of us serve on community boards, so we know there are a lot of things that need to be considered with each club and each operator.

What public relations challenges does the NPC face?
Morgan McLean: “The media paints the entire industry with one broad brush. If one of us is accused of something, then all of us are assumed to be guilty, but an entire industry should not be defined by a few bad operators.”

Rabin: “When someone gets robbed inside a bodega, the cops don’t make the bodega liable. If a fight breaks out in a pizzeria and someone gets hurt, the pizzeria isn’t blamed. In the current environment if those same incidents happen in a club, then it’s the club’s fault. It’s the entire industry’s fault.”

Lewis: “We need to change the way we are perceived. Nightlife brings jobs and taxes and tourism and life to the city. We generate twice the revenue of film and television in New York. Our annual attendance is more than every major sports team and Broadway combined. We want to work with the city and the community boards to continue to do that and more.”

Morgan: “We can’t build our individual businesses or enhance nightlife in general because we spend so much time trying to defend and justify our existence.”

How is the NPC different from NYNA? Both groups are run by operators. Both groups support and advocate local nightlife? Why is a separate group necessary?

Seres: The NYNA is a trade association of nightlife owners. The NPC is a conduit of information for nightlife patrons. It is designed to mobilize people who are interested in the political and policy aspects of nightlife in a manner that is similar to a political action committee.

The NPC will officially kick off on June 22nd. What happens on June 23rd?
Seres: We plan to launch a website on the same day as the initial event and use that as a way to get information out to our people on an ongoing basis. We’d also like to have a series of meetings and events where candidates running for office can meet patrons who are interested in protecting nightlife. Many people never get to meet or talk to the people that they vote for. The NPC will give them a platform to express how important nightlife is to their entire life.

Have fun.
Gamal

The World's Loudest Cigarette: Six Years of the Smoking Ban

Six years ago this week, a smoking ban was imposed on bars, restaurants and other venues in New York City. While the atmosphere inside bars has improved and there are studies that suggest that there has been a significant improvement in the health of nightlife operators and patrons, there have also been secondary effects that threaten the health of the nightlife industry in general. The city has unintentionally (or perhaps unintentionally) created a situation that puts clubs at odds with local residents and ultimately threatens liquor licenses.

History

Before the election of Michael Bloomberg as mayor of New York City, bars and clubs were bastions of smoking. Federal studies found that 61% of heavy alcohol users also smoked, often performing both acts simultaneously. The image entering a smoky bar and approaching a sexual interest by asking for a light were common in many venues in the city. Anyone who went into or worked in a bar accepted the concept that smokers would be there and that they would be able to smell the smoke on their clothes and in their hair long after they left the venue, whether they smoked or not. Back when the world was young and I worked in Webster Hall, I had to sneak outside several times a night for the chance to breathe fresh air. Cigarette smoke triggers my asthma, so for me working in the basement was like working in a burning building. It wasn’t the smartest thing I ever did, but a

hustler does what he has to do, especially when he’s starting out.

In 2002 after Bloomberg became mayor, one of the first things he pushed for was a ban on smoking in restaurants, bars and clubs. The debate leading up to the passage of the law was hotly contested on both sides. Groups that advocated the ban claimed that operators inside the clubs were the most vulnerable to the dangers of second hand smoke because they were exposed to it several hours a night for several nights per week. They claimed a ban would both improve the long term health of operators and improve nightlife business because it would attract people who didn’t smoke into the environment to spend money. Groups that came out against the ban did not deny the health benefits, but they did argue that there would be economic and social effects that the law did not take into account. They also claimed that there would be increased friction from the community because of the noise generated from patrons standing outside to smoke from 5 PM to 4 AM.

The Sound of Smoking

Some people think that a few people standing outside a venue will not substantially increase the level of street noise. But that concept only considers the smokers themselves. They don’t see that smokers, especially female smokers, provide a powerful incentive for groups of fanatics to hang out in front of a club, especially the ones who didn’t get into or got thrown out. In a twisted effort to get noticed and prove their superiority, these individuals will shout, get into fights, honk their horns if they are in their cars, or try to talk to girls from their cars and back up traffic behind them which causes other cars to blow their horns. This sad mating ritual cacophony will die down when the girls finish smoking and go back inside, but it will begin again when the next group of girls comes out of the club to take their place.

The relationship between street noise and smoking outside should not have come as a surprise to anyone involved in the development of the smoking ban since the NYNA informed city that the smoking ban would lead to noise complaints. But when operators requested the ability to hire Paid Detail officers to deal with the inevitable noise the result was the worst of all options. The smoking ban was put in place and the request for Paid Detail was rejected, allowing the smoking ban to become a major contributor of street noise. When street noise increases, 311 complaints from local residents increase. When complaints increase, local community boards can use those complaints to have a venue’s liquor license revoked. Without a liquor license, a bar or a club can’t compete in the market and is forced to close. There is a direct relationship between the smoking ban and the increase in noise complaints against clubs. As the ban enters its 6th year operators need to find a way to keep patrons healthy and stay opened.

Coping Strategies

Different venues use different tactics to deal with the ban. Any venue that has been built or renovated since 2003 could factor the law into their design. The ones that could afford it added heated courtyard lounges like Cielo, rooftop access like Above Allen or fire escape access like APT to give smokers access to the open air without putting them out on the street. Venues that don’t have that option rope off areas in front of the venue to separate the smokers who already made it past the velvet rope from the throngs still trying to get inside.

There are also growing instances of venues that do not rope off areas out front, or create special sections for them. Some operators have come to the conclusion openly or privately that it is easier and more cost effective to simply break the law. Smoking in clubs reported to be on the rise in New York City, either because enforcement has dropped off, or because the fines are low enough that paying them costs less than complying with the law or getting noise complaints. While this minority of operators might not openly reject the law, they have come to the conclusion that the cost of paying the fine is less than the cost of erecting smoking areas or subjecting their liquor licenses to revocation based on noise complaints from smokers standing outside. Some solutions have worked better than others, but one thing the clubs won’t do is discourage smoking by their clientele since by some operator estimates, smokers account for 40% of patrons.

A More Viable Solution

There is an alternative that protects the health of patrons and operators, keeps noise levels down outside of venues and allows patrons to smoke all at the same time. There are air filtration systems on the market that have been approved by the Department of Health and are currently used by infectious disease wards in hospitals to clean the air. These systems reportedly are the size of a humidifier and one of them can keep 1,250 square feet of interior air cleaner than the air in Central Park, even if 60% of the people are smoking inside. The NYNA proposed that if a venue was primarily a bar, lounge or club and not a restaurant then they could have one filter installed for every 1,250 square feet of interior space and become exempt from the ban. This request was not included in the final version of the law.

The best options available for the industry are to continue to lobby officials on the state or and local level that patrons can smoke inside without health risks, through the use of technology like filtration units. They can also try and work with local community leaders and law enforcement to gain the power to control or reduce noise outside the venues through Paid Detail. Finally, they could work to sever the links between street noise and liquor licenses so that loud patrons don’t lead to closed venues. Whatever tactic operators decide to use they need to insure that the smoking ban isn’t harmful to nightlife health.

Have fun.
Gamal

Are Police the New Health Inspectors or Tax Collectors?

By Gamal Hennessy

Imagine this. You’re sitting in your favorite bar nursing a drink and wondering how you’re going to convince the waitress to give you her phone number. Without warning three cops walk in, push behind the bar and start poking around with their flashlights, making everyone in the room very nervous. As you gather up your belongings and discreetly make your way towards the door, would you assume that this was a raid? Would you guess that the cops were looking for drugs, guns or child pornography? Would you believe they were looking for fruit flies?

Fruit flies are drawn to alcoholic beverages and bar owners are required by the state law to keep them out of liquor bottles as a matter of public health. As part of the routine inspections by the Department of Health (DOH) bars are inspected for fruit flies and any venue that has fruit flies on or in the bottles is subject to a fine that could run between $700 and $1,000 per infested bottle. This is a normal part of the nightlife business and isn’t really a cause of concern among operators. The problem arises in the way the law has recently been enforced. Even if you are a nightlife native who frequents various venues, you have probably never seen a DOH inspection taking place. That’s because inspectors keep a relatively low profile while conducting their business. Patrons usually have no idea what is going on and they don’t have to. But there have been reports of layoffs at the DOH, which could mean fewer inspectors. But inspections still need to be conducted, especially since every violation can lead to fines that cash strapped city and state governments are desperately looking for. So somehow the DOH has been replaced with the NYPD who is anything but low profile when they come into the bar.

One operator commented on the climate that the NYPD creates; “By sending a uniformed officers from the NYPD behind your bar with a flashlight looking for fruit flies and whatever else they can find at the height of your business hours creates a stressful situation for you and your customers. It looks like a crime was committed in your place and they are looking for evidence. It gets people talking about your establishment in ways you don't want.”

Bar and lounge owners in various parts of the city have described this scenario happening in their bars with increasing frequency. Some operators think that the NYPD has been given a mandate to perform random inspections as a way to “find” violations and provide the city and the state with much needed revenue. Various operators have voiced opinions about the situation: “What they are thinking is that they are going to get funds for a broke state and city no matter what the consequences. No thought is given to the outcome except that those cops better come back with some violations. With cops conducting their random inspections, we are at the whim of whoever is giving these cops the orders to do these. It is much more invasive and detrimental to our businesses. “I don't think this has anything to with revenge against a particular venue. All bars are suffering this treatment. This has more to do with the city's need to collect more revenue in the shape of fines and the fact that they've laid off a number of health inspectors.”

So instead of increasing state revenue by working with the nightlife industry, local government is trying to increase state revenue by intimidating and attacking it, using the police as its instrument. We have pointed out in previous articles that ending the backlog in liquor license applications and increasing the number of venues would actually increase state revenue significantly. And as dangerous as fruit flies are to public health, the police are probably better utilized deterring and preventing crime outside of venues instead of poking around behind the bar looking for bugs. We know that the state wants to use liquor consumption as cash cow and nightlife is an economic resource that the city can use for its benefit, but only if it takes more of a cooperative stance instead of being antagonistic.

Unfortunately, some operators don’t see things getting better because they don't feel the lobbying efforts are strong enough to support their position. “With all due respect to our lobbying groups, I really don't think they have the stomach for this kind of fight. We are just going to have to put up with this intrusive behavior by our government and keep our bars as clean as possible.”

So if you see a couple of cops climb behind your favorite bar, it might not be a raid. It might just be an abusive health inspection.

Have fun.

Gamal

So Where Are the Cops?

By Gamal Hennessy

Several people were stabbed over the weekend outside a TriBeCa club. The violence that occurred is the latest incident involving this venue and is sure to be used as an example of out of control nightlife here in the city. Unfortunately, incidents like this might be inevitable given the current position of the New York Police Department. Until nightlife venues are given the same police protection as other venues, violence will be a part of the nightlife experience.

Deco has several aspects to it that make it a less than ideal example of a New York venue. According to Matthew Chayes of New York Newsday, Deco has been operating without a liquor license since January 3, 2009 and it was the scene of two shootings in 2007. On Saturday night, two people were allegedly slashed with razor blades by Mario Olmedo. Later that same evening there was a report that three more people were attacked with blades outside the same venue.

Newsday wasn’t able to contact the operators of Deco for a statement, but the ripples are already being felt in the industry. Operators who were planning to move the Flatiron performance space Cutting Room to TriBeCa withdrew his scheduled appearance before the community board yesterday because he didn’t want the backlash from Deco to influence the decision on his liquor license.

It is an unfortunate fact of nightlife that fanatics and amateurs get most of the attention when it comes to news stories about nightlife. Very few pages are written about the tens of thousands of patrons who go out, have a good time and get home safely without slicing each other up in the street. It is objectionable that these incidents occur in spite of the fact that nightlife advocates have repeatedly requested the ability to have uniformed police officers patrolling the streets near venues during peak hours. One of the major points that came out of the Nightlife Summit of 2006 was a specific request by the New York Nightlife Association to have paid police patrols outside clubs to enforce laws that club security can’t enforce outside the venue. This request was, and continues to be rejected by the NYPD because it could potentially breed “corruption between the club owners and the cops.”

Serious violence is rare in nightlife, but as long as there are fanatics out there, the potential for violence exists. But while the NYPD protects itself from potential corruption, operators are held responsible for violence that they do not have the authority to control. They suffer the wrath of the irate community board members looking for any reason to shut down our venues. We as patrons are left to fend for ourselves among the fanatics when we go out, creating a situation where some of us will have to go to the hospital when our night is over.

Have fun.
G

Where is New York’s Nightlife District?

By Gamal Hennessy

Many major cities have designated areas where nightlife concentrates. Vegas has the Strip. New Orleans has Bourbon Street. South Beach has Ocean Drive. London has Leicester Square. New York has pockets of venues scattered all over the city, but what if there was a central area that was easy to get to, isolated from local residents, and big enough to house the next generation of mega clubs? Could something like that work here? Would we want it to?

Diane Vacca of Chelsea Now reported last week that members of community boards 4 and 5 in Midtown are in the initial stages of a plan that would designate areas in the Garment District (between 34th and 41st Streets and 6th and 9th Avenues) as a manufacturing zone. By using a non residential area for larger nightclubs like the venues currently in West Chelsea, the boards hope to give the residents of the quality of life they are looking for while providing space for a vital part of New York’s culture and economy.

Clubs have had conflict in recent years with local residents, community boards and police where local residents complain that the club’s activities are detrimental to the neighborhood and club operators complaining that they don’t have the tools or authority to solve the problems and remain in business. The encroachment of residential buildings into traditional nightlife areas has exacerbated the problem, which probably had a lot to do with this proposal.

Creating an Ocean Drive in Midtown wouldn’t radically alter the geography of most of the cities venues. Local bars, live music venues, lounges, speakeasies, and wine bars would still flourish all over New York. But mega clubs like the historic Palladium, Roxy and the Limelight, recent venues like Crobar and Lotus and current clubs like Webster Hall and Home need more space, generate more street noise and cause more late night traffic congestion than the smaller venues. Creating an area for them could help isolate the inevitable issues that come up.

There are at least two issues with the current plan, both turn on economics. The first question is “How do mega clubs fit into the future of New York nightlife?” The desire for operators to sink money into a mega club might not be very strong. Real estate costs are still fairly high, even in a recession. Liquor licenses are still a time intensive process that can tie up an investment for up to a year. Operating costs might be prohibitive in this district if patrons are planning to hop from club to club like in New Orleans, but are unwilling to pay substantial covers five or six times in one night. And the ability to pack a mega club with patrons on a consistent basis might be challenging without a point of difference to set them apart from the club next door. Steven Lewis has noticed a dispersal of nightlife from a few large venues to many small ones. In that kind of environment, can a mega club survive?

The second issue has to do with the zoning of the area itself. Ms. Vacca reports that the city is unwilling at this point to rezone the area for a nightlife district. Altering their position may take some time. Even if they succeed, operators run the risk of sinking investment capital into properties in a nightlife district only to find that the area is rezoned for residential once they make the area trendy enough for residential developers. This pattern has played itself out in the Meatpacking District and West Chelsea. Vegas and South Beach have created nightlife zones and maintain that status. If a similar New York zone is going to exist, local government needs to have the same commitment to maintain it.

Neither of these obstacles is insurmountable. A specific nightlife zone could spark growth in nightlife similar to what we saw in the mid 1970’s with the rise of Studio 54. Fresh capital and new ideas like a nightlife zone could be the start of a new age in the nightlife industry.

Have fun.
Gamal

Be Aware, Take Care

By Gamal Hennessy

We go out to have a good time. We want to forget the recession, the housing slump, the credit crisis and the soft job market. We want to drink, dance and seduce each other for a few hours before reality sets in again. The last thing we need is for thieves, pickpockets and scam artists to invade our refuge and make us even poorer than we were before by stealing our wallets, clothing or purses. But that’s what’s happening and this is what people are trying to do about it.

The NYPD recently approached the New York Nightlife Association with an educational campaign to help patrons guard against petty crime in the clubs. While most of the advice is common sense and straight forward, a little prevention can go a long way. Patrons are in a vulnerable spot. They are often intoxicated, literally in the dark and focused on everything except their personal belongings. Operators can only watch and do so much (like coat check or to a certain extent security guards) to prevent theft. This gives predators space to operate. Ultimately, we are responsible for our own stuff, but the NYPD flyers can make us a little more vigilant on the dance floor.

The underlying dynamic to this situation is threefold. First, there is a historical tendency for different types of crime in nightlife to rise in a down market. The city is trying to reverse that trend in an attempt to maintain its reputation as a safe city for tourism. Second, nightlife itself doesn’t need the negative publicity of higher crime in a time when patron spending is already down. Any steps taken to make the public feel safer are helpful for the bottom line. Finally this gesture between the police and nightlife comes at a time when relations have been slightly strained. The safety flyers might not settle the allegations of phony drugs busts and potential law suits but like the crisis in the Middle East, any steps toward reconciliation have to be taken with cautious optimism. If the NYPD and the NYNA continue to focus on the well being of patrons instead of attacking each other, then thieves and scam artists will have less room to maneuver and we can escape in relative peace.

Have fun.
G

What’s your opinion? We’d like to know.

Squadron Watch, SLA Inspectors and Smokeasies

Nightlife News for January 13th, 2009

By Gamal Hennessy

Is Squadron in a position to carry out his plans?
Roy Edroso of the Village Voice reports that new Democratic State Senator Daniel Squadron has been chosen to head the cites committee of the New York State Senate. Given his anti-nightlife position during the election, the question is will the new position but Mr. Squadron is a position to carry out his Nightlife Control Plan?

Club security guard sentenced for kidnapping charge
Darryl Littlejohn got 25 years for stuffing Shanai Woodward into a van. He still claims he’s innocent and that his trial was unfair because his name was also linked to the Imette St. Guillen kidnapping, rape and murder. Newsday.com didn’t specify when the St. Guillen case will be tried, but Littlejohn will continue to be a bad example of security the industry will have to deal with

Does the SLA need more inspectors?
A TV station in New York might have found the reason why liquor licenses are so hard to get. According to a spokesman for the SLA, there are only 21 SLA examiners in the whole state, and they process over 6,500 applications per year. But if New York needs to create jobs in a recession, and liquor licenses can create more jobs, why not hire more inspectors?

Watch out for the DOH before you light up
Grub Street has confirmed that the Department of Health has been conducting more raids and handing out more fines for venues that violate the smoking ban. The raids might be in response to more venues turning a blind eye to smoking in 2008, so smoking might become a contentious nightlife issue again six years into the ban.

What do you think? Should we worry about Squadron? What will it take to get more SLA inspectors? Will the DOH crackdown lead to club closings? Add a comment and let us know.

Have fun.
Gamal

New York Nights: The Year in Review

Over the past year, New York Nights has offered a unique perspective on the issues that affect the culture and business of nightlife. I’m looking forward to offering you more insight and information in 2009 but if you’ve missed any of our weekly features, don’t worry. I’ve provided links to all of them below.

Let me know what you think; what you want to know more about, where you think nightlife is going in the New Year and what you enjoy about NYN. Thank you for all your support and have a great year.

The New York Nights Weekly Recap for March 28, 2008
The New York Nights Weekly Recap for April 4, 2008
The New York Nights Poll: How has the Smoking Ban Affected You?
The New York Nights Weekly Recap for April 11, 2008
The New York Nights Weekly Recap for April 18, 2008
Last Call: A New York Nights Special Report for April 25, 2008
The NYN Weekly Recap for May 2, 2008
The NYN Weekly Recap for May 9, 2008
The New York Nights Insider for May 23, 2008
The New York Nights Insider for May 30, 2008
The New York Nights Insider for June 6, 2008
The New York Nights Insider for June 13, 2008
The New York Nights Insider for June 20, 2008
New York Nights Insider: The Pride Issue
The New York Nights Insider: The Independence Issue
The New York Nights Insider: The Alternative Venue Issue
New York Nights Insider: The Turning Point Issue
New York Nights Insider: The Mid Summer Issue
New York Nights Insider: The Liquor and Sex Issue
NYN Insider: The Down Market Issue
New York Nights Insider: The Image Issue
The NYN Insider: The Common Sense Issue
The New York Nights Insider: The Outside Influence Issue
New York Nights Insider: The End of Summer Issue
NYN Insider: The Down Side Issue \
NYN Insider: The Economy Issue
NYN Insider: The Sub Culture Issue
NYN Insider: The Controversy Issue
NYN Insider: The Woman’ Issue
NYN Insider: The Food and Wine Issue
NYN Insider: The Future Issue
NYN Insider: The Experience Issue (with Election Update!)
NYN Insider: The Crime Issue
NYN Insider: The Election Holiday Issue
NYN Insider: The Music and Fashion Issue
NYN Insider: The Culture Issue
NYN Insider: The Perception Issue

Have fun
Gamal

How Safe Are the Clubs?

By Gamal Hennessy

There is a famous saying in entertainment that "any press is good press." If you don't believe that concept, just look at Paris Hilton. But nightlife operators might not agree with that statement. The past two weeks has produced one missing woman and a shooting associated with local venues. How can clubs maintain safety without sacrificing the party or their autonomy?

Nightlife is often associated with crime, even if the operators and the venue are not at fault or even involved in the actual incident. Plaxico Burress shoots himself in the leg with his illegal gun at LQ. Jennifer Garza disappears after spending time with a sex offender at Marquee. While these events could have happened anywhere, the stories frequently mention the clubs. It’s too early to tell if these incidents will hurt attendance at these venues in the long term, but previous violence with P. Diddy at Club New York was a contributing factor in its demise. Of course, mentioning where a story took place answers one of the basic questions of journalism (who, what, when, where and why) but it isn't hard to imagine that the nightclub angle is played up to 'sex up' the story and perpetuate the concept that nightlife is inherently dangerous.

The past two weeks have been something of an aberration. Compared with the number of people in New York clubs every year (the 2004 estimate is 65 million entries), the number of high profile incidents is low. Reasonable behavior from nightlife natives, a watchful eye by club security and a stiff police presence in some neighborhoods keep serious crime down. This fact is rarely reported outside of New York Nights. Stories like Burress and Garza stay in the public consciousness.

This perception creates a potential threat to the nightlife industry. If negative stories are all that are reported or remembered then that is the image that is going to stick, no matter how infrequent the incidents are. This can lead to liquor licenses being unjustly revoked, abrupt closings and ultimately fewer quality venues in the city.

Operators have to do several things to be successful. They need to attract people to their venue, provide hospitality service, entertain their patrons, make a profit and provide a safe environment. There is a limit to what they can do. They can't keep track of sex offenders who come to the club, they can't control things that go on outside the club and they are forced to tread lightly when it comes to celebrity.

But there are things that are done. Why don't we hear about that? Can the industry show that millions of patrons aren't injured when we go out? It might be helpful for the industry to show the public what is done to keep them safe. Not just after a clumsy athlete shoots himself, but on a constant basis. That way we have a balanced image of nightlife safety, not just the bad news.

Have fun.
Gamal

Did New York Nightlife Lose the Election?

By Gamal Hennessy

Clubs were full last Tuesday night celebrating the historic victory of this country’s first black president and began counting down the final days of our worst president. While the tears and champagne were flowing, few people realized that a new player is also coming to Brooklyn, one with a distinct anti-nightlife platform and powerful supporters. Did the election we celebrated give rise to a new enemy to nightlife?

On Monday I got an email from a nightlife operator with a link to Daniel Squadron’s Nightlife Control Plan. I didn’t know who Mr. Squadron was, but I read his plan and I didn’t like what he had to say. No one involved in nightlife, who has seen the rise in power of the community boards, or understands the arbitrary way some boards operate would take the position that CB’s need to have more power without accountability or capriciously decide that any area has “too many bars” and essentially cripple on of the few industries that can continue to bring revenue into the city during an economic downturn. I came to the conclusion that I didn’t support Mr. Squadron. I also quickly understood that my support didn’t matter all that much. I didn’t live in his district and I only found out about him a day before the election. There was no time to get the word out and mobilize support against his election.

So spent the next few days following Sun Tzu’s advice and started to find out more about the new state senator.

It appears that Daniel Squadron is the son of influential attorney Howard Squadron and the former aide to U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. His campaign against the 30 year incumbent Martin Connor received endorsements both from political heavyweights like Schumer and Mayor Bloomberg and from local community groups seeking change. The following is a comment taken from The Brooklyn Paper

Daniel Squadron has the endorsement of almost all the Williamsburg leaders and newspapers this week. Folks, we need fresh blood. The coming years will see budget cuts because of lower government incomes. We need young fresh faces that have no old liabilities to fight for our rights...Lets all come out en mass and vote Daniel Squadron

It also appears that Mr. Squadron has links to nightlife that pre-date his Nightlife Control Plan. Based on his account given in July of this year, he once owned a nightlife establishment in the city. This should give him an idea of the pressures and difficulties in owning a New York bar. It should also help him understand the perspective on the community boards and police in relation to the clubs.

But if he does understand what nightlife operators are going through, where does the Nightlife Control Plan come from? Why is it worded to help the community boards restrain bars, but doesn’t openly mention actual standards of proof for them? Does his plan offer the venues protection and support, recognize them for the cultural and financial impact they have on the city? Will his plan build on the strides made by police and operators to keep the city safe or will it drive a deeper wedge between the two sides?

Since Daniel Squadron is the elected senator in Lower Manhattan and he does have substantial political allies, it is not inconceivable that his Nightlife Control Plan will evolve into a law. We can hope that the state senate understands the benefits of New York clubs and reject overly stringent controls. We can hope that lobbyist from the nightlife industry deliver the message that nightlife needs support as well as control. And all of us, especially me, can keep a closer eye on the people who claim to speak for our best interests.

Have fun.
Gamal

Will the Recession Cause an Increase in Crime?

By Gamal Hennessy

Even with welcomed change in White House, the US recession is predicted to last well into 2009. In the past, recessions have led to a dramatic rise in violent crime. Nightlife specifically gained a reputation for being dangerous. Will history repeat itself? If so, what can natives and operators do to mitigate the problem?

Historical parallels
There is a historical link between economic stagnation and violent crime. “Every recession since the 50’s has led to higher crime” usually with a year lag between the economic trouble and the onset of the crime wave. While nightlife in New York experienced an injection of creativity during the last downturn, crime was also an issue. Nightlife was associated (and not always fairly) with muggings, rape, robbery and drug related crimes. Last week’s Trends report predicted an upswing in the nightlife industry. Do those same factors point to more crime?

Unclear Causes
Predictions are mixed because there are distinct differences between past financial crises and this one. Some experts say falling wages and fewer jobs will lead to higher crime as people become more desperate. Others claim that there are fewer potential victims today because electronic banking and video surveillance are so widespread. Mayor Bloomberg has used the specter of increased crime as one of the justifications for his rewriting of the term limits laws, but California has been embroiled in a prolonged financial crisis without seeing a rise in crime. Part of the reason that predicting crime is difficult may stem from the fact that some of the factors that link economics and crime are indirect.

It is easy to assume that if people lose their jobs, they can turn to crime as an alternative to work, but the more likely culprit in a crime spike will be stress not greed. When people suffer from large amounts of anxiety they are less likely to cope with situations in a rational manner. They are more likely to lash out as a way to release their pent up emotions. This lashing out can translate into more crimes including assault, domestic violence and rape. The crime isn’t committed to make money. It is committed without thinking. When the alcohol use increases to deal with the stress and the hormones inherent in nightlife are added to the mix, the threat of increased nightlife crime rises.

Complications
The threat of increased crime also brings new complications to natives and operators in the nightlife space. For the past year, venues affiliated with the New York Nightlife Association and the NYPD have been working together to create a safer nightlife environment. But recent friction between the police and the clubs is building. Within the past month, there have been reports of a major lawsuit from certain clubs against the police. If relations between clubs and the police deteriorate just as a crime wave is building, the results could be a decrease in overall safety for everyone and more animosity between the two groups. There are anti nightlife officials gaining power. They could be willing to use any perceived link between crime and nightlife as a weapon to attack our lifestyle.

Be aware, take care
Nightlife natives need to be aware of their own internal situations when they go out. Stress relief doesn’t need to descend into amateur displays of violence. Over indulgence will only make your situation worse.

At the same time, nightlife operators need to be aware of potential spike in both financial and stress crime and plan accordingly. The image your venue has might be more important as reality, since it will only take a few incidents to draw increased scrutiny.

Are the Clubs Planning to Take on the Cops?

By Gamal Hennessy

The struggle between the nightlife industry in New York and local government might be moving from the blogsphere to the courtroom. A prominent nightlife figure has reported a lawsuit planned by local clubs against the NYPD. Is this the beginning of a new period of freedom for nightlife, or is the struggle about to take a turn for the worst?

The nature of the conflict
In the nightlife blog Good Night Mr. Lewis, Steven Lewis recently wrote that clubs have recently decided to file suit against the police department. According to the post, the clubs will claim that vice cops staged phony drug buys in their venues in an attempt to implicate the club in the crime. The clubs will then claim that the NYPD abused the Nuisance Abatement Laws (NAL) by selectively choosing to enforce the law in a way that would do the most economic damage to the venues. The combination of these acts results in a situation where the police are “ruining lives and business” and violating due process. The damages sought by the clubs in this suit are said to range in the tens of millions of dollars.

These issues have been simmering for some time. Local nightlife leaders have been aware of this problem since the NAL has been more strictly enforced by the police. While they don’t argue the merits of the law, they think the current enforcement of this law is a problem because it is largely politically motivated.

Robert Bookman, the head of the New York Nightlife Association sees an entity behind the police pulling the strings: “Its not police directly but the Civil Enforcement Unit; they’re not talking amongst themselves. The precinct has no control over it [the closings]; the cops who may have given you the underlying summonses have no control over it. There’s a unit called the Civil Enforcement Unit, they’re the ones who get these complaints from the captains, you know, 'This is a place we want you to consider for NAL.' And it’s the attorneys in this unit that put the papers together, who go to court, get the judge to sign it and choose to serve it almost universally on Friday night. Having said all of that, the situation is better now than a year and a half ago.”

The manipulation of the law might go even deeper than the Civil Enforcement Unit. There is a sense in certain sectors of the nightlife industry that larger real estate developers are trying to manipulate the NAL, the community boards, and using other tactics to reduce nightlife in New York City to make room for more housing construction. If the suit is filed, then all these players and their motivations could potentially be brought to light.

Timing is everything
If this situation has been going on for some time, why are the suits being contemplated now? According to the NYNA, the number of NAL closings has gone down since 2007. The police and the NYNA have made progress in working together to make nightlife safer during that period. In the past, individual clubs were reluctant to take action against community boards, police, or city hall because the backlash could close them down through votes against their liquor licenses, more raids or higher scrutiny from the DOH. So why go to court now?

NYN can only speculate on the actual timing of the suit. It is possible that the recent real estate slump and the political concerns swirling around City Hall make this a good time to go on the offensive with the police, whether or not they are initiating the abuse or just pawns for another group. It could be that the clubs found a way to avoid retaliation, giving them more freedom to act. It is also possible that the economic slowdown makes repeated weekend closures under the NAL impossible to absorb. If clubs are closed for too many weekends they might not reopen at all.

New York nightlife needs the NYPD to maintain the safety of its customers and workers. A protracted court battle between the two groups could lead to a more friction that would ultimately be detrimental to the people who enjoy the nightlife lifestyle. Hopefully, the announcement of a potential suit will induce both sides to come to an amicable agreement before the issue gets dragged through the courts. No matter which direction this goes, NYN will continue to follow the story.

Have fun.
Gamal

Dancers Claim Abuse at Dollar Dance Clubs

By Gamal Hennessy

In the outer boroughs, there are clubs that are different than the lounges or nightclubs you might be used to. These are clubs frequented by immigrant laborers and staffed by women who are paid, per dance, to dance with the patrons. A new report and federal lawsuit claims that these women are abused on several levels. Is the situation different in mainstream clubs, or is the situation just a difference of degrees?

A report in last week’s Associated Press explained that dollar dance clubs exist in various Latin American neighborhoods around the city. While it is not a strip club, women are paid to dance with men. Men pay $2 for a single dance or $40 for an hour of company. Prostitution is not supposed to be part of the job, but workers frequently have to be protected by security from over aggressive patrons who want more than just a dance and within their communities these women are often viewed as prostitutes.

A recent crime has pushed these clubs into the spotlight. In December of 2007, a 24 year old dancer named Adriana Valderrama was shot and killed near the Tulcingo Café in Queens. The ensuing investigation revealed allegations of sexual harassment and unsafe working conditions inside dollar dance clubs.

The perceptions and allegations surrounding dollar dance clubs are not limited to the outer boroughs. High profile spots like The Box are also currently facing allegations of sexual abuse and trading female attention for money is a common practice in modern clubs. They call it dollar dancing. We call it bottle service. One practice is explicit, the other is only implied. The prices might be different, but the end result is the same. People (men and women) come to the conclusion that sexually charged social interaction can be purchased.

This is not criticism of sexuality in nightlife, or a condemnation of buying a woman a drink. It is a critique against the concept of buying company. It is easier to buy a dollar dance than to actually approach a woman. It is a display of social value to buy a bottle for female attention, even if the tactic lacks subtlety. But the closer the connection we have between money and sex, the more nightlife will be perceived in a negative light. There has been a link between money and sex since money was invented, but managing that perception is crucial to the image of the city’s clubs.

Have fun.
Gamal

Source: Christian Salazar: Associated Press