Now It’s for Real: Elect Pro-Nightlife Politicos

A couple of months ago, I asked many of the best DJs in New York to help at a gala to raise awareness of the Nightlife Preservation Community. Over 3,000 people showed up and learned of our efforts to take the fight to the politicians in a way that they understand -- we would generate votes and cash for friendly politicians. This little idea of mine was blown into a big thing with the help of my co-chair Paul Seres, plus Matt Isaacs, Ariel Palitz, Marjana Jaidi, and of course Robert Bookman, David Rabin, and the New York Nightlife Association. Our rolling stone gathered the support of the New York State Restaurant Association, liquor sponsors, and a large gathering of other concerned citizens.

The idea is simple ( you knew that already because I came up with it). The nightclub community has some of the best marketing people around. We posses e-mail and text messaging lists of thousands of voting-age club patrons. These people receive daily invites to events, product launches, even daily blogs; they tweet and Facebook each other to keep informed of the latest club stuff. These remarkable tools will now be used to endorse candidates that will work with nightlife. We hope to make politicians aware that when they attempt to legislate the industry out of business, they will be opposed come election time.

This is our first go at it. The party—which was a real banger—was not in itself anything but an announcement that we are here. On September 15, we will attempt to swing the election towards four candidates who are in very close races. These candidates approach nightlife as part of the fabric of New York’s vibrant culture and economy, and we highly recommend you support them. Why only four after all this work? Well, we are just trying out our wings and want to see if this thing will actually fly. Although hundreds of thousands of people will be notified of the merits of our candidates, it’s unclear if they will get up and go to the polls. They must, or this will be a futile effort. Why the primaries? In this town most elections are foregone conclusions. Many candidates run unopposed in the November general election. The turnout for the primaries is always so small that even hundreds of votes can swing it towards a good guy. Please go out and vote. Please help us make a difference. Instead of complaining about excessive regulation and police enforcement, get out and vote or send one of these people a small check. There’s a six-to-one matching thing going on in many cases. That means if you send a candidate $10, he or she gets $60 from the public funding. For more information on how you can help or the candidates we support, go to our website.

The NPC supports David Yassky for comptroller, Eric Gioia for public advocate, and Bob Zuckerman and Karen Koslowski for city council. These candidates have taken the time to listen to our story and are willing to work with us to make sure that nightlife as we know it and hope it can be continues as a positive, defining part of this great city. Most towns embrace and celebrate their clubs. These metropolises work as a team with the club community to help promote tourism, create jobs, and generate tax revenues. This burg often treats us like second-class citizens. First-class citizens vote, and this coming primary season, please go out and vote for these candidates. If we make a difference, we will be invited to the table next election just as other special interest groups have been over the years. Vote September 15 and make a real loud difference.