Double Seven, Richie Rich and the World Cup

The Nightlife Report for June 3, 2010

…I hunt down the nightlife news so you don’t have to…

Coming Soon
Double Seven
(Eater)
A former pillar of Meatpacking nightlife is set to make its return this season. Can it reclaim its niche from all the other venues that have popped up in its absence?

Play Beautiful
(Urban Daddy)
Whether you are an avid fan of international football or you’re American who only thinks soccer is something that suburban moms drive their kids to, it is time for the World Cup to take over your water cooler conversation. Now you can experience the game at Play Beautiful, a temporary space set up specifically for fans to watch every 2010 World Cup game. The good news is that seats at this TV arena are free. That bad news is that you can’t get it without a reservation…so call now.

Personalities
Richie Rich
(NBC Nitetalk)
A personality from nightlife’s previous era offers lucid thoughts about partying with Madonna, the rise of bottle service and the transformation of Limelight from a club to a shopping mall.

Product Launch
Hennessy Black*
(Reuters)
Hennessy is already the best selling cognac in the world. It’s already constantly mentioned in rap lyrics. It’s already part of a luxury brand conglomerate that includes Moet and Louis Vuitton. Now it’s jumping into the cocktail market with Hennessy Black, a less expensive and lighter tasting alternative to its VSOP and XO brands. Considering how much marketing pull the company already has, I wouldn’t be surprised if Black cocktails started to turn up in several of New York’s cocktail speakeasies.

Government
SLA Keeps Fast Track Licensing
(New York Times)
A few weeks ago, I reported on the success of the recent SLA self certification initiative to process liquor license applications in weeks instead of months. That program was supposed to be temporary, but budget cuts and reduced staff levels in all levels of state governments has prompted the SLA Chairman Dennis Rosen to keep the fast track process in place. This will allow the organization to deal with budget cuts without causing the backlog to build up again. While this is probably not good news to local community boards who were eager to see the plan go, it could be one of the few instances when budget cuts and a week economy actually benefit the nightlife industry.

Have fun.
Gamal

Join us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Sign up for the free Insider Newsletter

Order our new book Seize the Night from Amazon.com


* No. In spite of my last name, I don’t know of any connection between me and the Hennessy family connected to the Hennessy brand. If I did, I wouldn’t have to work for a living. ;)

Cienfuegos, Glass Bar, and the Dance Parade

The Nightlife Report for May 19, 2010
Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

…I hunt down the nightlife news so you don’t have to…

Opening
Glass Bar (Hotel Indigo)
(Urban Daddy)
The rooftop bar in a hotel is a default location for the summer, but on the cold, rainy days we’ve been faced with lately it doesn’t seem like a good place to go. Several bars, including the new Glass bar in the Hotel Indigo are solving this problem by offering a roof to protect your drink from the elements. While some venues go for the retractable roof option, Glass Bar has specific sections covered to protect you from the rain. The roof might not protect you from the chill, but that’s what liquor and the body heat of an attractive crowd is for…

Cienfuegos
(Black Book)
New York’s cocktail renaissance continues with a new bar in Alphabet City. This time the operators who brought you gems like Death & Co., Flatiron Lounge and the tequila shrine Mayahuel bring you a speakeasy dedicated to rum. It’s just in time for a summer of coladas…

Government
SLA Rolls Back Emergency License Procedures
(New York Times)
It appears that the crisis in liquor licensing is over. Last year, the New York State Liquor Authority went through a series of upheavals including corruption charges, a change in leadership and a backlog of liquor licenses that numbered in the thousands. Denis Rosen, the new head of the SLA, attempted to solve the backlog problem by creating a streamlined process for licenses that reduced the waiting time from 8 months to 5 weeks. That change in procedure virtually eliminated the back log in a matter of months. Now that the license process is less problematic, the SLA is going back to the normal licensing regime. This move will appease several groups, including local community boards who felt some of their influence eroded by the fast track licensing plan. Hopefully, the SLA will be able to handle the other issues facing it with the same insight and agility it showed in the licensing crisis.

Events

Dance Parade (May 22, 2010)
(Societe Perrier)
This Saturday marks the fourth annual New York Dance Parade. The festival is a celebration of all forms of dance, the cultures that shape them, and contributions they make to the diversity of New York City. It is also a grass roots attempt to expose the double standards that nightlife faces, specifically the law that makes it illegal to dance in most New York clubs. The fact that we have a celebration of the different forms of dance that have originated or thrived in New York nightlife (hip hop, vogue, jazz, salsa, etc) is commendable. The fact that New York State doesn’t recognize dance as an art form the way it recognizes music, theater and painting as art is sad. The Dance Parade is an effort to change the way dance is perceived in New York in the same way that New York Nights is an effort to change the way nightlife is perceived in New York. Both causes deserve your support.

Have fun.
G

Join us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Sign up for the Insider Newsletter
Order Seize the Night from Amazon.com

The 200 Foot Rule: The Separation of Church and Sanity

By Gamal Hennessy

The laws that a society adopts are a reflection of the economic, social and moral standards of the time. In theory, as society changes and evolves, so do the laws. Unfortunately there is often a lag between social standards and legal standards. The laws and regulations that apply to nightlife are a prime example of this situation, since many of the modern laws have their roots in Prohibition. One of the most basic sacred cows that needs to be questioned is the so called 200 foot rule because it is often being used to suppress the industry not protect the community.

What is the 200 Foot Rule?
The New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) decides who can legally sell alcohol and the circumstances of that sale. The SLA follows a set of laws called the Alcohol Beverage Control Law (ABC). Section 64(d)(8) of the ABC prohibits bars, clubs and lounges from operating within 200 feet of a school, church or other place of worship on the same street.

Why Was the Law Put in Place?
While it might seem like common sense to put some distance between nightlife venues and places of worship, the origin of the law needs to be considered. The 200 foot rule is a product of a very specific period in US history that was by and large anti liquor. Even after the end of Prohibition there was a feeling that children and church going people should not be exposed to the evils of drinking. Creating distance between a church and a bar seemed to serve this purpose.

Why Do We Need This Law Now?
But New York in 2010 is not the same place that it was in 1933. Today, the idea that separating schools and churches from bars somehow protects the moral fiber of classrooms and congregations is laughable. Even if all three establishments were opened at the same time (they generally are not) there is no evidence that church goers would simply skip services and belly up to the bar, or that packs of drunken patrons would descend upon a Sunday school class to cause mayhem and destruction. Even if bars were pure dens of inequity and churches were total bastions of purity (which also isn’t true) there is no reason to believe that separating bars from religious buildings serves the public interest. Even if all the bars and all the churches were separated by 200 miles, good little students and pious church goers could still see the negative effects of drinking on any television channel, any movie screen, all over the internet and in their own homes.

If the 200 foot rule cannot achieve its goal of shielding a vulnerable group from dangerous exposure, then why do we need it? Why are we trying to limit an industry based on the social norms of pre-World War II America? New York nightlife brings business and cultural benefits to the city. A healthy and vibrant nightlife benefits property values, tourism, the economy and the social life of everyone in New York. Why try to hamstring such a vital part of the city?

How is the Law Being Used Now?
There are those that contend that the 200 foot rule is not a defense mechanism for congregations and students. They feel that it is NIMBY weapon to limit the nightlife industry. Case in point; State Senator Daniel Squadron recently had to 200 foot rule modified with a minute technical point. Instead of measuring the 200 feet mentioned in the law from the edge of any school or church, Mr. Squadron pushed to have the 200 feet measurement start at the door of the church. While this is a small modification, the results could be significant when you consider that a door might be 15-20 feet away from the edge of the building, effectively making the 200 foot law into a 180 foot law. This small change might seem trivial until you consider how dense New York City is. Then when you consider how many different types of churches, mosques, synagogues, storefront churches, schools, day care centers and other similar institutions exist in the city, especially in certain neighborhoods, you begin to understand that the change in the law is a noose that could cut off the air to New York’s nightlife industry.

What are the Alternatives to the 200 Foot Rule?
I am not trying to suggest that nightlife venues become as all-pervading in New York as Starbucks, Duane Reade or Chase. I am not endorsing a nightclub on every corner with 24 hour bottle service and music in the streets. I am suggesting that there are methods and solutions to serve the public interest with regards to nightlife that are not based on irrelevant concepts and false morality. Proper zoning by the city can create areas where operators and residents are not constantly at each others throats. Modifications to building codes and thoughtful management of resources can limit the detrimental aspects of nightlife on a community and enhance the positive aspects. Changing the ABC law to reflect what New York is instead of what New York was can improve things for residents, patrons and operators alike. Hiding behind a outdated law might be politically expedient, but it does not serve the public interest.

Please keep in mind that neither the New York Nightlife Association nor operators in general have not endorsed this idea. They have more practical concerns to deal with on a day to day basis and more political intelligence than I do. They don’t want to make their relations with the CBs any worse than it already is. NYN can raise these issues and at least introduce them for debate because we believe that debates on topics like this are useful if they can help revive the business and culture of New York nightlife.

Have fun.

G

Join us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Sign up for the Insider Newsletter

Empire Room, Mad46 and SLA Improvements

The Nightlife Report for March 30, 2010

Government
SLA wipes out license backlog
(Business Review)
Less than a year ago, the State Liquor Authority was facing a corruption scandal, license applications that were supposed to be reviewed in a month often took 6 months to review and there was a backlog of over 2,000 unprocessed applications languishing in Albany. Now the old regime is out, applications are being reviewed within several weeks and most of the backlog is gone in other parts of the state. While there are still considerable challenges facing Chairman Rosen, including eliminating the backlog that still remains in New York City, overhauling the Prohibition Era licensing laws and updating the technology infrastructure of the agency, this announcement is welcomed news to an industry that is often at odds with state officials.

Opening
Empire Room
(Urban Daddy)
The rise of midtown as a nightlife hub continues with the long awaited opening of an upscale lounge located inside the Empire State Building. Although the location might make it impossible to hide from tourists, one can only hope that the doorman enforces a no fanny pack policy to the best of his ability.

Opinion
The Most Expensive Venues in New York
(Club Planet)
In a recession, an operator has to cater to a very specific clientele if he wants to charge top dollar for his or her hospitality. At the same time, a nightlife native needs to know which places are the most expensive and plan their evenings accordingly. Some will avoid these places, others will flock to them. While any place can break the bank if you order bottle service for everyone, Taryn Haight of Club Planet list these five venues at the top of the price pyramid.

Re-Opening (April 7th)
Mad46
The Roosevelt Hotel throws its hat into the retractable rooftop ring with a midtown lounge that promises to combine signature drinks, gourmet snacks and quality service to create the perfect place to start your night. Look for a full review of this venue in Prince of the City later this month.

Have fun.
G

Attend the Nightlife Town Hall Meeting!

If you own a venue, or work in one or enjoy going out in New York City, you have a reason to attend next week’s Nightlife Town Meeting. New York Nights will be at the event to support the industry and report back on what comes out of the meeting.

When: Thursday, February 4th 2010 @ 6:30 pm
Where: PS 20 166 Essex Street (between Stanton and East Houston)

Have fun
Gamal

Community Boards Push Back Against New Liquor Rules

by Gamal Hennessy

The New York State Liquor Authority is trying to improve its service to the restaurant and nightlife communities. But by making its applications more efficient, it has stirred up anger among local community boards that see the new moves as an attack on their political influence. Unless a compromise can be reached, we could see a return to the corruption and stagnation that has plagued the agency in the recent past.


Improvements in the SLA
A venue requires a license to serve liquor in New York State. The State Liquor Authority (SLA) grants these licenses and plays a pivotal part in the ability for a venue to be successful, because a club that doesn’t serve liquor will not be opened for very long. For the past few years, the SLA was understaffed and the application process was extremely inefficient. Applications that were supposed to be reviewed within a few weeks routinely took 6-8 months to process. There was a huge backlog of applications that cost the state money and curtailed growth of the industry. In 2009, things got so bad that former SLA employees were accused of taking bribes from operators in an attempt to get their applications out of this administrative limbo.


After the corruption scandal, a new chairman named Dennis Rosen was brought into the SLA with a mandate to weed out corruption and improve the SLA. Chairman Rosen created a fast track process that made the liquor license process more efficient and streamlined. This move was praised by operators and industry advocates across the state who were shocked at the speed that this "new" SLA could do its job.


Community Board Reaction
But the previous system did work in favor of some groups. Local community boards (CBs) provide advisory opinions to the SLA for almost every new venue that opens in the city. If they vote against a venue, there is a good chance that venue will never open. If members of the CB push hard enough, they can force an existing venue to close. Many CBs base their decisions based on a vague "quality of life" concepts as opposed to formal economic or urban planning concerns so operators were often at the mercy of anti-nightlife elements within the CBs. The previous process benefited the "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) elements within the CBs who exerted power and control over nightlife through the SLA.

The new streamlined system undercuts the CB’s influence. Some CB members didn’t even know that the rules had been changed. Now they are voicing their displeasure. Harold Egeln of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports that Community Board 10 has formally asked the SLA to abandon the new policy and go back to the 6-8 month waiting game.

Considering how pivotal the license process is to CB influence over bars, we should expect to see more CBs join the fight to roll back SLA rules and regain influence. But, as with all political issues, there is a compromise between alienating the CBs completely and giving NIMBYs control of the liquor license process.

One solution could be to bring in actual experts in urban planning, zoning, and real estate development to advise the SLA on behalf of the individual CBs within the new fast track framework. This would give the CBs a voice within the new licensing process without crippling the process itself. That will allow the SLA to continue its improvements, foster growth within nightlife and address relevant community concerns.

Going back to the old process is not the answer, unless the goal is to stifle nightlife in New York.

Have fun.
Gamal

Carnival and the Persecution of Beer Pong

The New York Nights Club Report for October 14, 2009

Complied by Gamal Hennessy

Opening
Carnival
(New York Nights)
Bowlmor Lanes spawns the newest theme bar in Union Square…

The New Bar Roundup

(Shecky’s)
It is officially too cold for Beer Gardens, so drink in these new spaces instead…

Controversy

Beer Pong Persecution
(The Gothamist)

The State Liquor Authority has recently ruled that the ancient tradition of beer pong is a violation of state liquor laws. At the same time, AM New York reports on a American College Health Association warning that beer pong and similar activities could increase the risk of swine flu. I guess it’s safer to just do shots instead…

Have fun
G

New York: Good for Singles, Not So Good for Nightlife?

By Gamal Hennessy

When tourists, graduates and other people choose where to visit or live, there are a lot of factors that they can take into account. Forbes, a well known financial magazine offers advice on this subject in the form of its annual list of Best Cities for Singles. The good news is that New York has risen to the top of this chart for 2009. The bad news is that our overall gains seem to come at the price of a weakened nightlife environment. Is NY nightlife really weaker than it was a year ago or does our nightlife have qualities that can’t be measured?

The Forbes Best List for Singles compares U.S. cities across seven different categories including culture, nightlife, number of singles and cost of living. Last year, NYC ranked 8th best city for singles beaten out by cities like Dallas, Seattle and Boston. The reason we barely made it into the top ten was because our cost of living is so high compared to other cities. Our nightlife was ranked number 1, even when compared to nightlife cities like Las Vegas, Miami and Atlanta because the number of venues in New York when compared to the number of singles was the highest in the country.

This year, New York is the top city for single people. Driving this determination is the fact that our cost of living, compared to the average salary for single people for New Yorkers has leveled during the recession. It is still expensive to live here, but you don’t need to be a millionaire to have your own place. The bad news is that the number of venues per capita has decreased from our 2008 numbers according to AOL City Guide.

The basic problem with the Forbes list is the same one that existed when we last covered the story. The methodology focuses on quantity as opposed to quality. It’s fine to count the number of single people or the number of bars in certain cities and rank them based on density, but it doesn’t really take quality or variety into account. Does each city have the same range of nationalities, education levels and backgrounds for singles to choose from when they go looking for a date? Is a bar in Charlotte count just as much as a bar in Vegas because they both serve beer? Is the experience the same when you can walk to fifteen bars in a five block radius instead of driving for 20 minutes just to get to one? If you think about single life by only tracking the numbers, you miss something substantial.

The Forbes study does point out a fact that New York and the nightlife industry needs to focus on. The recession, the SLA backlog and the NIMBY push have led to a consolidation of the industry. We are losing more venues than we are gaining. That means the city as a whole is losing more jobs, more revenue, more taxes and more potential for cultural growth. Our reputation as a nightlife capital can fade away if operators and patrons stand idle.

The Forbes List is not the last word on the health of nightlife in New York City, but consider this; Milwaukee and Portland came in with higher nightlife scores than New York. If tourists and college graduates look for a city to flock to and somehow come to the conclusion that nightlife in those cities can somehow be compared to ours we are going to lose the energy and the passion that those new people bring. Lists like this are not definitive pronouncements, but they are warnings to anyone who enjoys nightlife.

Have fun.
Gamal

The Empire Room, Studio B and SLA Fines

Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

Closed
Studio B
(Eater)
The Greenpoint rooftop bar succumbs to community pressure.

Controversy
SLA Fines
(Village Voice)
Several venues are fined for allegedly filling top shelf bottles with well liquor.

Coming Soon
The Empire Room
(Eater)
The Empire State Building will soon have its own upscale cocktail lounge.

Have fun
Gamal

Drinking at 500 Feet

By Gamal Hennessy

We’ve done several stories about the threats to New York clubs and bars. A lot of these issues revolve around a club getting or keeping its liquor license. NYN started investigating the process to give the public a better idea of what goes on behind the scenes. I found out two important things at my first hearing…




And if you want to find out more about what's going on in New York nightlife, sign up for NYN Insider. It's free.

Club Report for June 12, 2008

BWC, Eden and International Bar

Club Report for June 12, 2008

Can We Keep Clubs Open? A NYN Special Report

By Gamal Hennessy

Behind the scenes of New York’s constant nightlife party there is a struggle for control. The outcome of this conflict will dictate where and how you enjoy New York bars and clubs. A few weeks ago, we published Last Call to explain this situation from the point of view of the bars and clubs. This article will bring other influential groups into the debate. While NYN maintains its position as an advocate for nightlife, we feel our readers need to understanding the perspective of the other players involved will make all of us better informed about the issue.

Can We Keep Clubs Open? Part II

By Gamal Hennessy

This is the second part of our Special Report on Community Boards and New York Nightlife.

Can We Keep Clubs Open? Part III

By Gamal Hennessy

On Tuesday and Wednesday we started looking at the discord between New York nightlife, local community boards and the role that the State Liquor Authority plays between them. Today we’re going to try and provide some editorial context for all of this and a suggestion for what should happen next…

Body, Salon De Ning and the Rainbow Room

The NYN Club Report for May 15, 2008

Elizabeth, Last Call and the Bars of the Tribeca Film Festival

The NYN Club Report for May 1, 2008

Last Call: The Latest Threat to New York Nightlife

A New York Nights Special Report
By Gamal Hennessy

Part III: The Future

Recent events have created tension between the nightlife industry and the community boards. Those tensions have fueled a sneak attack on clubs in the form of a 2 AM closing stipulation. How this situation going to affect the clubs and the people who like to go there? Find out in the last installment of our special report…

Putting New York to Sleep (Part 2)

Putting New York to Sleep: The Latest Threat to New York Nightlife

A New York Nights Special Report
By Gamal Hennessy

Part 2: The Present

In our first article we showed how the increased power of local community boards, their desire to recreate the suburbs in middle of the city, and the noise generated from the smoking ban have combined to create animosity between the boards and the nightlife industry. Today we’ll look at how that tension has prompted a new attack on the city’s clubs.

Putting New York to Sleep: The Latest Threat to New York Nightlife

A New York Nights Special Report
By Gamal Hennessy

New York is one of the few cities on earth that has a constant nightlife presence. One of the main reasons tourists and new young residents come here is because we have more clubs that are open later than almost other city in the country. The continuous energy of New York nightlife pumps millions of dollars into the city every year and helps make us the city that never sleeps.

But all of the money, energy and prestige that comes from New York nightlife will disappear if the clubs themselves are forced to shut down. How could that happen? How could a city that holds more than 1,500 bars, lounges and nightclubs be reduced to a fraction of that? If clubs are uniformly forced to close at 2 AM instead of the normal 4 AM time, it could have a ripple effect on not only the nightlife industry but the overall New York economy. New York Nights is going to take a look at this issue in a special three part series.