After 91 years, let’s dance!
IT’S TIME FOR New York to get footloose.
The de Blasio administration “strongly supports” scrapping the 1926 law that bans dancing at the vast majority of bars and restaurants in the city, officials said Thursday.
Senior adviser Lindsay Greene threw City Hall’s support behind legislation to repeal a nearly century-old law that makes dancing illegal without a cabaret license.
Fewer than 100 of the city’s 26,000 bars and restaurants have the license, making it illegal to bust a move almost anywhere.
“We feel there are better ways than the current cabaret law to create a strong and healthy nightlife economy while also ensuring the safety and security of everyone participating in that economy,” Greene said at a hearing. “Repealing the cabaret law while maintaining important safety provisions will go a long way to ensuring New Yorkers can fully enjoy the city’s vast array of night life venues.”
A growing number of artists and business owners have taken aim at the dancing ban, which dates to the Roaring Twenties, when the city was trying to go after Harlem jazz clubs where black and white patrons mixed.
City Councilman Rafael Espinal (D-Brooklyn) introduced a bill to repeal it.
It would require certain night spots to have security cameras. “Dancing does not need to be licensed,” he said.