NYC is already a bit lax with say, drinking wine or beer at your Central Park picnic — but can you imagine if drinking in public was allowed and completely normalized in NYC?
Well, that seems to be what the city’s own Nightlife Advisory Board is recommending as a way to help boost and support nightlife and culture in NYC.
The New York Post first spotted this recommendation in a list of proposals directed to the Mayor’s office and NYC City Council from the Nightlife Advisory Board in their Summer 2021 Report. The report was actually first created pre-pandemic, but since the crisis affected this sector so greatly, they updated it and just released it on July 19 so the “incumbent government officials have the time to consider policies that can be implemented during the remainder of their terms.”
The report includes many different recommendations — from updating 311 complaint systems to new nightlife security guard training to revisiting the zoning of where dancing is restricted. But in a section of the report labeled “Nightlife Beyond Bars and Clubs,” it laments that “a thriving nightlife goes beyond bars and clubs,” and notes that it is quite difficult in the city for artists and other groups to host public events.
They go on to recommend that City-owned buildings be open later for public use, as should libraries, and to overall offer more affordable options for nightlife fun — including drinking in public spaces like NYC Parks.
“In most global cities people can gather informally in squares and parks to drink with friends and even dance to the rhythm of impromptu concerts,” they write. “Drinking in the public space and dancing anywhere in the city should be regulated but not prohibited.”
As for if this would ever actually get enacted in NYC? A spokesperson for Mayor de Blasio told the Post that City Hall would review the recommendations in the report. The same was communicated by a spokesperson for the City Council. So time will tell if this will ever be implemented!