New York’s Nightlife Professionals Band Together for Survival

SEPT. 19, 2020 — Those who have managed to open look nothing like they did pre-pandemic. In limited outdoor space, they operate as bars a fraction of prior capacity.

Ticketed events? The State Liquor Authority (SLA) expressly prohibits those. Live music? That’s only allowed if it’s purely “incidental.”

Violators of these policies face hefty fines — up to $10,000 per violation, sometimes totaling up to $50,000 — and suspension of their liquor license, according to the Governor’s office. Even before the pandemic, this would hurt bars and venues, but after months of inactivity, these businesses are especially vulnerable.

These barriers continue to mount, making the outlook for New York’s venues and nightclubs seem hopeless. But nightlife professionals city-wide are determined to keep their businesses alive. The existential threat posed by COVID-19 has prompted them to organize. New York’s nightlife professionals are fighting to save themselves and each other through direct relief and government support. Still, their futures remain uncertain.

When the pandemic hit, venue owners found themselves treading unfamiliar waters. “Everyone was scared and nobody knew what the hell was happening,” recalls Diana Mora, founder of the Crown Heights venue Friends & Lovers. “There were a hundred GoFundMes asking people to help us, but no unified voice.”

Over a series of Zoom calls and meetings, Mora and several other industry professionals organized, forming several groups to help save New York’s nightlife scene. Some put their efforts toward lobbying the government for support, while others focused on direct aid.

The biggest organization born from this effort is the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), a New York-based nonprofit with over 2,000 members nationally, with over 200 in New York City. They’re pushing for Congressional relief, through bills called the Save Our Stages Act and the RESTART Act. These proposals, sponsored by Democratic senators like Chuck Schumer, were introduced in July but have yet to pass. Without aid, NIVA says 90% of members’ venues will close in the next three months.

A couple of months later, city venue owners formed the New York Independent Venue Association (NYIVA) to push for support and acknowledgement from the state, especially because the federal response was anemic.

“We represent a cultural hotbed and set the standard of what happens not only around the state and the country, so we needed something more unique to our needs,” says Alaina Gonzales-White, NYIVA member and manager of Birdland Jazz Club in midtown Manhattan, which remains closed.

NYIVA insists they can work together with the state to cautiously reopen city nightlife.

Gonzalez-White asserts that music venues can open safely in a limited capacity. With ticketed events, “We can ensure everyone is temperature checked, with full contact information,” which helps with contact tracing efforts.

In August, the state Independent Venue Association sued the State Liquor Authority, arguing the ban on ticketed events and performances restricts protected First Amendment speech.

Members of NYIVA point out their industry is an economic boon to the city. According to a 2016 report by the Mayor’s Nightlife Office, venues alone brought $1.2 billion to the city’s economy. Venues and bars together employ over 30,000 New Yorkers.

But government change can take a while. In the meantime, venues’ coffers are running dry, and many employees remain without a livelihood.

While NYIVA pushes for structural change, mutual aid funds fill in the cracks. “People rightly think they need to take care of each other because they can’t rely on the government to do it,” says Eli Dvorkin, editor at the Center for an Urban Future, a progressive think tank based in Manhattan. “It’s a reflection of how insufficient the government response has been.”

NYC Nightlife United (NNU) is the most prominent aid fund for the city’s independent nightlife industry. Run by a team of nightlife professionals, they offer grants of up to $20,000 for struggling businesses in nightlife. Individuals can apply for up to $5,000 in assistance, too.

NNU prioritizes some of the most vulnerable venues: those creating spaces for Black, brown, and LGBTQ patrons.

“These demographics aren’t funded,” says Diana Mora, NNU co-founder. “We don’t have investors.”

NNU sees these spaces as part of the fabric of New York’s culture. “Art, dance, fashion: all of these siphon creativity from nightlife, says Mora. ” Without them, Mora worries New York will just be “boring condos.”

They solicit individual donations, but also partner with brand sponsors like Heineken. This month, they collaborated with Queens art museum MoMA PS1 for a music fundraiser that live streamed at parks and restaurants across the city.

Even though organizations like NYIVA and NNU are taking it one day at a time, they hope to remain a resource for their community with skill sharing and continued advocacy.

“I don’t think there’s any going back from here,” says NYIVA’s Gonzalez-White.