Arts & Culture, news, Social Justice 1 Comment

These Anti-Creep Posters Are Coming to Halloween Parties, and Could Become Law

October 24, 2018 By Cassidy Dawn Graves

(Flyer courtesy of Anya Saphozhnikova)

If you ask Anya Sapozhnikova, co-founder of glitzy Bushwick club and venue House of Yes, Halloween is the biggest party season in New York. It’s also “kind of the most consent violation-y weekend of the whole year,” she tells me, something that’s far scarier than any ghouls or fake blood. That’s why starting this week, both her venue and Council Member Rafael L. Espinal Jr. will be spearheading a consent education initiative in the form of a website and posters that will be displayed in prominent nightlife venues throughout the city, with future plans that could make this type of consent-centric signage required.
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Tags: Anya Sapozhnikova, Bars + Restaurants, consent, halloween, house of yes, Kae Burke, rafael espinal

Business, news No Comments

Get Ready to Dance On the Grave of the Cabaret Law, Set to Be Repealed

October 30, 2017 By Cassidy Dawn Graves

Council Member Rafael Espinal and others at a hearing on the Office of Nightlife and cabaret law repeal in June (photo: Cassidy Dawn Graves)

Those attending bars and clubs in NYC can soon collectively shake their hips without fear, as a bill repealing the Prohibition-era cabaret law is slated to pass the City Council tomorrow. The repeal marks a win for the coalition of individuals and advocacy groups like the Dance Liberation Network and NYC Artist Coalition who have spent many months attending hearings, making calls, and staging town halls in their quest to make a ban on social dancing a thing of the past.

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Tags: Bars + Restaurants, cabaret law, city council, DIY spaces, legislation, rafael espinal

City Hall, news 1 Comment

Anti-Dance Law Repeal Supported By Everyone From de Blasio to Duke Ellington’s Family

September 15, 2017 By Cassidy Dawn Graves

the crowd on Thursday (photo: Cassidy Dawn Graves)

On August 24, the City Council passed Council Member Rafael Espinal’s Office of Nightlife bill, which would establish a “night mayor” and nightlife task force to mediate between residents, the government, and the nightlife industry. This was good news for the city’s nightlife operators, particularly smaller DIY spaces that currently have to wade through a web of complicated regulations with little to no assistance or funding. However, the Nightlife Office on its own would not solve everything. Not when dancing still remains largely illegal in New York City. More →

Tags: Bars + Restaurants, cabaret law, city council, Dance Liberation Network, dance parade, hearing, let nyc dance, NYC Artist Coalition, rafael espinal

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‘Office of Nightlife’ Bill Passes, Aims to Ease the Headache of Booze Pouring

August 24, 2017 By Cassidy Dawn Graves

Council Member Rafael Espinal and others at a hearing on the Office of Nightlife and cabaret law repeal in June (photo: Cassidy Dawn Graves)

Back in May, City Council member Rafael Espinal announced a plan to sponsor legislation that would create an “Office of Nightlife” and “Nightlife Advisory Board.” After a lengthy hearing and initial City Council approval, the latest version of the bill passed the council with a strong majority later today.

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Tags: Bars + Restaurants, cabaret law, city council, dancing, office of nightlife, rafael espinal

Business, City Hall, news 1 Comment

Nightlife Advocates and Politicians Want to Dance on the Grave of NYC’s Cabaret Law

June 20, 2017 By Cassidy Dawn Graves

(photo: Cassidy Dawn Graves)

Yesterday, hundreds flocked to City Hall to discuss the future of nightlife in New York City at a consumer affairs oversight hearing. It was the first of its kind in over a decade to address the city’s oft-decried cabaret law, which has been in effect since 1926.

“The City licenses bars, clubs, taverns, and discos that allow dancing,” states the City of New York’s official website. “A place that is open to the public and sells food or drinks must have a Cabaret License to allow customers to dance.”

And yet, there currently are only 97 of these licenses in effect. Considering there are thousands of bar and nightclub establishments in New York City where one might feel compelled to shake their hips, there is little wonder that City Council members Rafael Espinal and Antonio Reynoso called themselves both “young Dominicans representing north Brooklyn” and “dance outlaws.” More →

Tags: antonio reynoso, Bars + Restaurants, cabaret law, city council, City Hall, Dance Liberation Network, dance parade, DIY spaces, hearing, Legalize Dance NYC, night mayor, NYC Artist Coalition, rafael espinal

City Hall, news No Comments

Pols Get Amped For Electric Bus Service During L Shutdown

April 26, 2017 By Sam Patwell

Would electric buses soften the blow of the approaching L train shutdown? City Council members Rafael Espinal and Stephen Levin think so, and yesterday they called on the MTA to make it happen.

Aside from being an inconvenience for more than 200,000 daily commuters who ride the L train daily, the 15-month shutdown planned for 2019 will also cause an increase in carbon emissions as the subway is replaced with more car and bus traffic. Electric buses would solve the problem of noxious bus fumes while pushing the city closer to a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly public transit system, the council members said during a press conference.

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Tags: Electric Buses, L train shutdown, rafael espinal, Sierra Club, stephen levin

City Hall, news No Comments

Bushwickers Are Making a Community Plan Before Developers Make It For Them

June 24, 2016 By Nicole DeMarco

Antonio Reynoso speaks at the Bushwick Community Plan open house (Photo: Nicole Disser)

A slew of city agencies and elected officials are asking Bushwick residents for direct input on how best to handle the rapid change that’s consuming the neighborhood.
“We’re here to make sure we give the people the opportunity to make a decision on what their neighborhood’s going to look like in the future,” City Council member Antonio Reynoso told the crowd at a Monday meeting at Ridgewood Bushwick Youth Center. Among the areas of concern: population growth, demographic shifts, the loss of affordable housing, an influx of luxury housing, private interests, and businesses that cater toward the moneyed. In other words, gentrification.
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Tags: antonio reynoso, Bushwick, Bushwick Community Plan, city council, city planning, development, gentrification, policy, politics, rafael espinal, Real Estate, urban planning

news No Comments

The City Just Made It Harder For Your Landlord to Harass You

September 3, 2015 By Jaime Cone

(Photo: Tarika Roongsri)

Today Mayor Bill de Blasio signed three new measures into law to prevent the tenant harassment and shady practices that have become so commonplace among New York City landlords, particularly those who own rent stabilized units in rapidly gentrifying areas like North Brooklyn, the East Village, Bowery and the Lower East Side.

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