Around two years ago, Mayor Bill De Blasio signed legislation establishing the city’s first-ever Office of Nightlife. Now, restaurant and bar owners finally have a strong voice in NYC politics.

By creating this office, the city has affirmed the importance of allowing NYC nightlife economies to flourish while at the same time balancing the needs of residential tenants living close to the action.

NYC as the “City that Never Sleeps” should absolutely protect nightlife businesses from unreasonable tenants who complain relentlessly to city agencies about the noise and other unfounded offenses. Come on, if tenants live above a bar or restaurant, they must accept some noise during busy service hours. If they don’t like it, they should go live in the suburbs or at the very least on a different block!

The office is headed by Senior Executive Director Ariel Palitz and includes a 14-member independent body, charged with advising the Mayor and the City Council on issues affecting the NYC nightlife industry.

In October 2018, the Office of Nightlife kicked off a five-borough listening tour, starting in Brooklyn, and continuing to Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Manhattan.

The NYC Restaurant Adviser applauds the city for creating the Office of Nightlife, and we hope much good will come from it. We encourage all NYC restaurateurs to learn about the many ways the office can be of assistance, and we advise restaurateurs to get involved as much they can.