Commissioner Overseeing Office of Nightlife Hosts Open Discussion on LES Tomorrow Night

Outside The DL, June 2015

When Mayor de Blasio first announced the Office of Nightlife last year, battle-hardened residents around the Lower East Side weren’t particularly pleased. Was this new bureau just a boon to the industry at the expense of communities? How effective would a liaison be?

The appointment of former Sutra owner Ariel Palitz to “Night Mayor” likewise made waves given her prior stance that, for club operators, the area was ripe for the picking.

To assuage the nerves of those leary folks in worn-down areas like Alphabet City and Hell Square, Comissioner Julie Menin from the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment, who oversees this new position, called an impromptu meeting with several East Village and Lower East Side community groups a few weeks ago. At discussion among attendees were the ongoing concerns regarding over-saturation of liquor licenses as it relates to public health, lack of retail diversity, high rent blight, noise, and traffic congestion.

The session also resulted in Menin’s suggestion to hold a broader meeting ahead of the Palitz “victory lap” Town Hall planned for later this year. This latest get-together happens tomorrow night at the Hotel Indigo (3rd floor conference room), and affected neighbors from around the area are urged to attend.

The ongoing argument by many locals is that promotion of nightlife as an economic driver is directly correlated to hyper-gentrification, loss of retail diversity, high-rent blight, and depletion of affordable housing.

To attend the event, you can RSVP here.