A 91-year-old law that required bars and clubs in New York City to obtain a “cabaret license” in order for patrons to be allowed to dance is set to be repealed tomorrow. New York City councilman Rafael Espinal, the council’s representative from the 37th district, which includes Bed-Stuy, Bushwick and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, is expected introduce a bill to repeal the law before council.
A spokesperson for the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, told The New York Times that “the mayor strongly supports repealing the law.”
Enacted in 1926, the Cabaret law was meant to prevent “musical entertainment, singing, dancing or other form of amusement” without a license. The law prohibited dancing by three or more people in any “room, place or space in the city… to which the public may gain admission,” though it doesn’t actually define what dancing is.
According to Dance Liberation Network, one of the organizations charged with fighting the law and raising awareness about why it should be repealed, only 88 out of the city’s 25,000 drinking and eating establishments have a current cabaret license. The organization also says that the law is unevenly enforced, and more often targets marginalized groups.
On the decision to repeal the law, the Dance Liberation Network posted this statement to their website:
“The law is actively-enforced and has historically been weaponized against marginalized groups. The Cabaret Law continues to be used as a trojan horse to get through the door of our most vulnerable communities. We applaud Council Member Rafael Espinal for introducing bill #1652 to repeal this discriminatory unconstitutional law which has no place in today’s civil society. We will fight to the finish to see it through.”
