Culture

NYC: No dancing zone

by Kaitlin | February 23, 2007 at 09:37 am

1146 views | 5 Recommendations | 2 comments

No trans fats, and now, no dancing? It sounds like New York has a case of the No-Funsies. We Vancouverites are very familiar with this concept (or should I say Nofuncouver?). Maybe they should make a Broadway musical about a town whose leader is anti-dancing and anti-fun. Then a young Kevin Bacon could come along and change everyone's mind. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?

Of course, we should respect the judge's decision. After all, we don't want anyone illegally starting up a speakeasy, serving liquor to patrons or having dancing girls. That would be scandalous!

The city's 80-year-old cabaret law banning dancing by patrons in ordinary bars and restaurants is legal, the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled Thursday.

The Gotham West Coast Swing Club and several people had sued, saying the law violated their constitutional right to free expression.

But the appeals court backed the law, which was enacted in the Prohibition era to crack down on speakeasies.

"Recreational dancing is not a form of expression protected by the federal or state constitutions," the court wrote.

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Jordan Yerman

at 09:55 on February 23rd, 2007

During Rudy Giuliani's tenure as mayor, the cabaret law was an added source of revenue, as the allowance of dancing required a special license. Not sure if Giuliani realized that Kevin Bacon was the good guy in FOOTLOOSE. One of my favorite bars in New York actually got shut down over this... they eventually reopened but never recovered from the lost revenue.