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‘N’life mayor’ asks
for residents’ ‘trust’
NIGHTLIFE continued from p. 1
Offi ce of Nightlife,” declared Carol
Puttre-Czyz, a creative consultant who
has lived in the East Village for three
decades. “We need protection from
nightlife. Isn’t New York City enough
of a party city?” she asked.
Palitz emphasized early on in the
evening that she herself lives above a
bar in the East Village and urged that
she can see all sides of the issue, despite
what some may believe.
Quality of life, she said, is a “top and
equal goal” to supporting what nightlife
contributes to the city, creatively,
artistically, culturally and economically.
Palitz’s offi ce estimates that nightlife
contributes $48 billion to the city’s
economy, supports roughly 300,000
jobs, and generates $700 million in
tax revenue, according to preliminary
numbers from a study the offi ce will
release by the end of the year.
Palitz conceded that there are reasons
why people might mistrust the offi
ce’s intent.
“Because of the perception of who I
am,” she said, “who this offi ce is, and
the advisory board, the only thing that
will clarify the offi ce’s intentions is
time.”
Bowery Block Association member
Michele Campo lamented that her
block has become an “alcoholic theme
park.”
“I liked the way it was before,” said
Campo, who said she has lived on the
Bowery nearly her entire life. “People
wouldn’t come to visit me because they
were afraid. But now, it’s an alcoholic
theme park with trolling drunkards,
people pissing all over.”
Campo pushed Palitz to answer
when the “dreadful” behavior would
be stopped and stipulations on liquor
licenses enforced.
Palitz shot back, “Listen, you say that
friends didn’t visit you because it was
too dangerous, and now you like it better
when it’s less dangerous?
“The whole purpose of creating the
Offi ce of Nightlife and having these
meetings is to assess these issues,”
Palitz added. “I ask for patience and
trust.”
When Palitz was fi rst appointed
“Nightlife Mayor,” Lower East Side and
East Village groups were tentatively
hopeful something positive could come
of the new position. But others felt optimistic
since Palitz’s boss would be Julie
Menin, commissioner of the Mayor’s
Offi ce of Media and Entertainment
and a former chairperson of Lower
Manhattan’s Community Board 1, with
experience addressing quality-of-life
concerns and dealing with fi lm shoots
on the streets.
Meanwhile, members of the underground
nightlife scene, often dubbed
PHOTO BY SYDNEY PEREIRA
Ariel Palitz, the city’s “nightlife
mayor” — with city agency officials
behind her — addressing the
town hall on nightlife last week.
the “DIY community,” called out the
Police Department’s lack of transparency
on its efforts to crack down on
nightlife operating illegally — specifi -
cally, through the Multi-Agency Response
to Community Hotspots, or
MARCH, initiative.
“Some of these events can be attacked.
And most of the time, these
are events that are cultural hubs and
observing creativity and honing diversity,”
said Ian Orr, a promoter for
ReSolute, who added that MARCH
often also shuts down events that are
operating legally.
Stephen Mills, program coordinator
at the Mt. Sinai Men’s Sexual Health
Project, said he works at sex venues and
clubs, often in Chelsea, to provide free
testing for H.I.V. and sexually transmitted
infections, plus access to the H.I.V.-
prevention medication PrEP.
“Nightlife places and spaces are
a great way to cause a lot of social
change, as well as education for a lot of
different opportunities,” Mills said. He
added of the Manhattan town hall that
it “has been one neighborhood complaining
most of the time.”
The Offi ce of Nightlife was inspired,
in part, by other cities, such as Amsterdam,
that have established similar
offi ces to navigate the battles between
venue operators and residents. Palitz
leads a staff of three along with a
14-person volunteer advisory board,
whose members were appointed earlier
this year. Her offi ce will act as a liaison
between several city and state agencies
— including the Police Department, the
State Liquor Authority and the Department
of Buildings — to bridge gaps and
create a space for discussions that have
often played out at community board
liquor license meetings and politicians’
offi ces.
Schneps Community News Group CNW December 6, 2018 7
link