New York dancing ban on verge of getting overturned

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Have you ever wondered if it's illegal for crowds to dance in bars, clubs and restaurants in the Big Apple?

It can be - but things are about to change, as New York campaigners are finally in sight of getting the law overturned.

The "cabaret law," passed in 1926, requires public spaces that sell food and drink to acquire near impossible-to-obtain permits to authorize dance indoors.

Those without the permit can be fined. Repeat infractions risk bar owners losing their license to sell alcohol, which could in turn lead to bankruptcy.

Yet fewer than 100 of New York's more than 22,000 bars, restaurants and clubs have the elusive permit, which is granted after mountains of Kafkaesque paperwork and jumping through prohibitively expensive hoops that Brooklyn councilman Rafael Espinal says unfairly discriminate against small business owners.

Under New York's 1926 "cabaret law, all public spaces that sell food and drink must acquire near impossible-to-obtain permits to authorize dancing indoors. /AFP Photo

"It's just ridiculous," says the indignant 27-year-old Democrat. He wants to repeal the law, which could be put to a vote in the New York City Council as early as December.

Espinal and pressure groups such as the Dance Liberation Network say the law has been used historically to crack down on neighborhoods with large minority populations such as African Americans, Latinos and the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.

Racist

Passed initially to assert control during the time of Prohibition, some historians say its true goal was the closure of Harlem jazz bars from the 1930s to the 1950s in an effort to stop whites and blacks mixing.

In the 1970s and '80s, it was used to close establishments frequented by the LGBT community as they fought for their rights. In the 1990s, mayor Rudy Giuliani used the law to get tough on clubs in his fight against crime.

Today, it is little used, but detractors say it is invoked as an excuse to shut down premises considered undesirable.

A sign urging the repeal of New York's "cabaret" law. /AFP Photo

Unconstitutional

The campaign to scrap the cabaret law has won the support of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who also acquiesced to another of Espinal's demands – create a "nightlife mayor" also dubbed "director of nightlife" or DON.

The search is now on for a liaison officer between city hall, residents and New York's multi-billion-dollar nightlife industry, in order to support a safe nightlife scene that supports 300,000 jobs and attracts tourists far and wide.

De Blasio signed the new position into law at House of YES, a Brooklyn party venue alongside Marky Ramone, the drummer of legendary punk band The Ramones.

"It's pretty shocking – one in five small businesses have been lost in the last couple of decades in New York City," the mayor said.

"One of the big reasons was it was hard to navigate the rules and restrictions that in so many cases went too far," he added.

Source(s): AFP