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This decision to crown Arilel Palitz Nightlife Mayor proves yet once again Mayor de Blasio makes really poor decisions.
Talk of community engagement and listening tours is a dog and pony show. The sole purpose of Ms. Palitz and her office is to PROMOTE, PROTECT, & PLEASE THE NIGHTLIFE INDUSTRY.
Political donations were made to the Mayor & certain Council Members (Mr. Espinal specifically). Lobbyists and special interest were in the pockets of our politicos, as usual.
Was Ms. Palitz vetted? How did a person who racked up 30K in NY SLA violations, had one of the worst bars in the EV, and antagonized residents at publicly held community board meetings qualify to head this office with a130K salary (paid for by tax payers)?
Menin is impressive. Smart. She seems destined for higher office, but Ariel Palitz who not only comes with baggage, is also completely ill equipped to hold public office. Ms. Pailitz may end up being Ms. Menin's downfall.
The Mayor just added more taint to a political legacy already smeared with scandal, corruption, and incompetence.
East Villagers support Ariel Palitz and wish her well! It's too bad a handful of whiny babies get all the attention.
There is an active law on the books, the Padavan Law, also called the 500-ft. Law, that prohibits more than three liquor licenses within 500 feet of each other, "UNLESS the Public Interest is served" by granting additional licenses.
The courts have ruled that the spurious claim that it "creates jobs and taxes” is not justified, since any business does that.
So what is Menin's and Palitz’ position on this? The law has clearly been violated. Yet they are silent. This Nightlife Mayor is a scam. It was pushed by the nightlife shills, including NYC councilmember Rafael Espinal, who received campaign contributions from members of the nightlife industry.
Residents who have lived in the EV and LES for a number of years know how bad the situation is. We all know that the Nightlife Mayor was a created and pushed through by the Nightlife industry. So much for impartial and ethical politicians–ahem, Espinal and DeBlasio. It is a wonder how on earth that someone as vested as Palitz is in the nightlife industry; first as a bar owner then as a hospitality consultant, someone how has gone on record to say that the EV and LES are ripe for exploration by the nightlife industry; was selected for this office? The residents hope that Julie Menin will be honest and compassionate to the voters that live in these saturated areas.
Incredulous is correct, the Nightlife Mayor was pushed through when no one was looking. But why did groups like LES Dwellers not do anything? They could have sounded the alarm.
The Nightlife Mayor thing did not come out of nowhere. Cities like London and Paris have adopted it partially as a way to make nightlife’s contributions to their cities a priority in the face of extreme gentrification of its neighborhoods. The hires in those cities have been much more progressive. The fact that NYC has hired a person with no connection to the avant garde is no surprise. We get most things wrong these days. From what I can tell, our Nightlife Mayors resume is entirely post- frat typical east side boozefests that have contributed nothing of worth to the cultural life of the city.
On my way home from work last night, I passed the owners of the store in the ground floor of my building, and I realized how lucky I was. It used to be the norm that ground floor businesses were closing as upstairs residents were coming home, and there were rarely problems. But now, zoning has allowed more density and all-night businesses in areas where people live and sleep. Clubs are no longer relegated to manufacturing zones.
Our City government has pushed us all on top of one another, so that no one can do anything without pissing off someone else. And now, that very government has created a Nightlife job just to take the heat off of them for what they did to us. Is this a Nightlife problem or a zoning issue? Why can't we have some parts of town open all night for partying, a red-light district, and other parts of town where people who have to work in the morning or who have small children can get some sleep?
Too bad that we don't vote out incumbents around here anymore, or we might get more help from the people who spend out tax dollars, but this NL mayor is just another way for them to protect their jobs. They found a callous, jaded NYer to take their heat. That can't be a good thing for any of us.