Nightlife Advisory Board Recommendations
The Nightlife Advisory Board (NAB), an independent body established by local law, chaired by Andrew Rigie of the NYC Hospitality Alliance with members including our counsel Robert Bookman, bar owner David Rosen, and advocates representing nightlife establishments, workers, community boards, the creative community, LGBTQIA+ activists, and others, appointed to advise the Mayor and City Council on issues affecting the nightlife industry – released its report and recommendations critical to the future of New York’s nightlife sector and the neighborhoods that make up the economic, social, and cultural backbone of the city.
NAB developed and intended to release this report at the beginning of 2020, then Covid-19 struck and put its release on pause. We submitted our recommendations in the Summer of 2021 to the Mayor and City Council as required by law, hoping that the report will inform our city’s pandemic recovery as it relates to our nightlife and the many matters that existed pre-pandemic, and that will continue to impact the sector if not addressed.
The roadmap offers 15 recommendations for how to support the industry’s businesses, workforce, owners, patrons, performers, and communities into the future, including: Equitable Regulation, Incentivizing Cultural Nightlife in New Development, Permitting Free Expression of Dance, Fair Treatment of Artists and Performers, LGBTQ Safe Spaces, Better Nightlife and Community Integration, Anti-Sexual Assault Training, and more.