IT’S NOT A RAID!
NYPD club era ends
The NYPD’s controversial practice of raiding city nightspots is being put to bed, city officials said Thursday — following years of complaints from local businesses.
A new policy, announced by Mayor Adams on Thursday, would replace the Giuliani-era MARCH initiative — or Multi-Agency Response to Community Hotspots — that led to cops storming into bars and clubs for surprise inspections during business hours.
“Today, we are changing the way we engage with nightlife establishments by opening direct lines of communication with local businesses and giving them a chance to correct issues before enforcement takes place,” Adams said. “New York City is the nightlife capital of the world, and this new initiative will help us protect public safety, ensure better quality of life, and keep business doors open for all to enjoy.”
The new initiative — dubbed Coordinating a United Resolution with Establishments, or CURE — requires local police precincts to speak with owners or managers about possible violations or complaints before taking further action.
The city has long faced complaints about the decades-old policy of conducting unannounced blitzes, which sometimes led to the business being shuttered and which owners said amounted to harassment and scared off patrons.
CURE appears to take
NYPD protocol beyond the City Council’s 2019 Talks Not Raids Bill, which required semi-annual reporting on the raids and for the department to give businesses more information about why the action was taken.
New York City Office of Nightlife executive director Jeffrey Garcia called the new policy a win for business owners. “They won’t have to constantly look over their shoulders,” he said at the Paragon nightclub in Brooklyn.
‘Backfire’ fears
But the change wasn’t welcomed by some cops and members of the City Council.
“More layers of bureaucracy will only prolong the existing quality-of-life issues,” said Democratic Queens Councilmember Robert Holden, adding, “I hope this does not backfire.
“While the city’s commitment to collaborative problem-solving is important, eliminating MARCH operations might inadvertently send the wrong message to the scofflaws,” he said.
A beat cop told The Post the more hands-off policy would lead to neighborhood concerns going unaddressed.
“These club owners know what they are doing is wrong,” the source said. “So I guess the new NYPD policy on this will be ‘Stop or I’ll say “Stop” again.’ ”
Other city agencies will also follow the new guidelines, including the Fire Department and Department of Buildings, but all agencies will still perform real-time inspections for any immediate public safety concerns.