Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
De Blasio Agrees To End NYC's Antiquated Anti-Dancing Law, On One Condition
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Sep 15, 2017
Modified Sep 15, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Sep 15, 2017
Modified Sep 15, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The office of Mayor Bill de Blasio, a man whose official campaign dance involved jumping up and down while licking himself, has expressed qualified support for repealing a Prohibition-era law that makes it illegal to dance in the vast majority of New York's bars and restaurants.
During a City Council hearing on Thursday, mayoral advisor Lindsay Greene revealed that City Hall would back the growing effort to get rid of the 91-year-old law. "We feel there are better ways than the current cabaret law to create a strong and healthy nightlife economy while also ensuring the safety and security of everyone participating in that economy," Greene said.
But Greene stressed that the mayor would only sign the repeal legislation, put forth by City Council Member Rafael Espinal earlier this summer, on the condition that the NYPD oversee the bill's new security camera requirement applying to larger venues with liquor licenses. Espinal pushed back on that, noting the shift in language might lead to more police enforcement at these venues.
"We aren't in a small conservative town in Kansas, this is New York City, a sanctuary city, where you shouldn't need a license to dance," Espinal said during the hearing. "The cabaret law is a blemish on our history and continues to keep small businesses in fear. There is more work to be done, but this is one step in the right direction."
Under the current law, it's illegal to operate any "room, place or space... in which any musical entertainment, singing, dancing or other form of amusement is permitted," without a city-issued cabaret license. Those licenses are nearly impossible to acquire—only 97 venues, out of roughly 25,000 bars and restaurants in New York have one. While the city has claimed that enforcement of the law is rare, testimony from dozens of nightlife workers and advocates on Thursday indicated otherwise.
"The cabaret law is not enforced across the board, but arbitrarily, and thus it allows for discriminatory policing from law enforcement agencies," argued Olympia Kazi of the NYC Artists Coalition. "This law makes all New Yorkers unsafe by forcing us to dance in unlicensed spaces."
"We live in constant fear and paranoia of city government," added John Barclay, the operator of Bossa Nova Civic Club, who says his business received a cabaret violation a few years ago. "We were told by the city and state that if we continued to allow dancing we would be shut down."
Others offered testimony centered around the racist origins of the bill, which was first enacted to stop "the wild stranger and the foolish native from running wild."
"This law has affected three generations of my family," said Conrad Neblett, a Harlem resident and the producer of a weekly dance party called Together In Spirit. "We're in really trying times, and releasing stress through dancing is a good thing. It leaves me with a question of, how can social dancing be illegal?"
Mercedes Ellington, the granddaughter of Duke Ellington and herself a performer, agreed.
"The cabaret law has no place here in the greatest city on Earth," she said. "The dance police that are able to shut down the clubs should turn their attention to other disruptive situations, and maybe they'll feel a little better if they start to swing and sway themselves."
Tagged
cabaret law
City hall
dance liberation network
night mayor
office of nightlife
rafael espinal
original
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
What do you see when you record the whole of the boroughs?
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 5, 2026
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
It's a busy month at the branches.
By
Alec Hamilton
Arts & Entertainment
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
It's a busy month at the branches.
By
Alec Hamilton
NYC music in October: The Strokes, a Blink-182 cover band, and Polish experimentalism
By
Hank Shteamer
Are you a New Yorker? The Department of New Yorker Verification will now decide.
By
Hannah Frishberg
In the mood for a pastoral autumn experience? Try Queens.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .