‘Night’ czar pro-mingle, anti-Kringle

THE NEWLY appointed “nightlife mayor” dreams of a future in which no bar or neighborhood will have to host SantaCon. A month into her gig as the city’s senior executive director of the Office of Nightlife, Ariel Palitz, who owned the popular East Village Sutra Lounge for a decade and served on Community Board 3 for six years, hopes to get bureaucrats, residents and nightlife owners on the same page to foster a “nightlife economy” that works for everyone. That means putting bar owners in a position where they don’t feel forced to take desperate measures. “Someone who had a dream of creating a bar or a nightclub only resorts to doing a SantaCon out of financial necessity or if they’re in financial survival mode — this isn’t something, that someone grows up, and wants to host a SantaCon party,” the 47-year-old Manhattan native (photo) said of the boozy fratfest that comes to town in December. Palitz, who phoned us from her office in the Ed Sullivan Theater, is the first person to hold the position that was dubbed nightlife mayor shortly after Mayor de Blasio announced in September he planned to create the job.

According to Palitz, when bar owners communicate with their communities, they can reduce operating costs and “create a stable nightlife economy and a way of operating businesses that is needed to make better choices — quality over quantity.”

An East Village denizen who lives across the street from the boite she shuttered in 2014, Palitz speaks from experience. Her Sutra Lounge — which sits near the heavily trafficked corner of First St. and First Ave. — was dogged by 311 complaints and even closed for a month in July 2011, forcing her to settle $28,250 in fines.

“I learned a lot from being an operator not only from an operational standpoint but as a neighbor,” she said. “I know both sides of the coin and want to use my experiences both good and bad.”

This summer, Palitz plans to host Town Hall meetings where venue owners and their neighbors can share their needs, which could result in more regulation in some areas, and less than others. She also thinks there are growing opportunities in all five boroughs for club owners who find Manhattan cost-prohibitive.

“The best thing about New York nightlife is what’s always been great about New York nightlife — it’s in New York!” she said.