Nightlife Raided!

As per the request of a curious Wesleyan reader, an update about the manifold police raids that seem to have been plaguing NYC nightlife of late.

UPDATE: On Saturday, Misshapes was shut down following a police raid, which was indeed in response to crowding on the sidewalk. This is not surprising, since Thomas (the door guy) and Kevin (the bouncer) are engaged in a constant struggle to clear the sidewalk due to many warnings from the 5-0. The party rerouted to the apartment shared by Misshapers Geo and Greg K, and the debonair Colin Nagy (Flavorpill) (photo courtesy of Misshapes site).

Similarly, the Motherfucker Halloween Rocky Horror party on 10.28 was forced to move from the Roxy to the much smaller (but lovely) Delancey lounge, after an earlier police raid uncovered underage drinkers inside and forced the venue to shut down for four days.

The action against NYC's notorious nightlife may stem from the Bloomberg Administration's attitude towards bars and nightclubs. The administration felt some pressure from NYC's nocturnal community immediately before the mayoral elections, following rumors that Bloomberg's failed Nightlife License bill, which would compel bars to apply for a special license in order to stay open past 1am, would make a reappearance in the next four years. The New York Nightlife Association and Bars Against Bloomberg spoke out against this and other reforms. NYNA has most recently worked with the administration on the Noise Code, and successfully pushed through amendments to a bill that would have forced bars to have a 2-1 ration on women and men's rooms - forcing many bars to pay for expensive construction within the next year.

Happy, Andrew?

Andrea