FOMO party raided by cops; meet the Night Mayor in Bushwick tonight

After taking a private tour of soon-to-close Silent Barn, NYC’s first Night Mayor, Ariel Palitz, will make her first official public appearance at fellow DIY space Secret Project Robot in Bushwick tonight (3/26). There will be a panel discussion where she’ll hear from advocates, community members, business owners and artists. Topics will include: “stopping displacement, rent control for commercial venues, path for DIY’s to become a legal community spaces, safety certification processes, clarity on MARCH raids, dancing in zoning codes.”

UPDATE: Read about what happened at the meeting.

Also scheduled to attend: NYC Council Member Rafael Espinal (who spearheaded the Office of Nightlife campaign), Rachel Nelson (Secret Project Robot), Anya Sapozhnikova (House of YES), Jazo Brooklyn (Educated Little Monsters Performing & Visual Arts Program), Tara Duvivier (Urban Planner & DJ), Brian Polite (Afro Mosaic Soul) and Ali Coleman (House Coalition). The panel is from 7-8:30 PM and more info is here.

As mentioned, one of the topics to be discussed tonight is MARCH (Multi-Agency Response to Community Hotspots), a task force implemented by the Giuliani administration to do raids on bars, venues, and nightclubs, that is still in operation. The Cabaret Law may have been repealed but as DJ Tara Duvivier (who is one of tonight’s panelists) noted after FOMO at Friends & Lovers got raided by MARCH on Friday (3/23), there are still restrictions for dancing:

https://twitter.com/djtara/status/977545419587715078

NYC, at least 1 place got hit with a MARCH raid, 2 venues that got NYPD visits, and an after hours was raided with people arrested and detained. That was just this weekend affecting folks I know. I’m sure there were more. Tonight. 7pm. 1186 Broadway in BK. Be there at 6:30 pic.twitter.com/tXUiMsxyXw

— flo with the crazy whip appeal (@djtara) March 26, 2018

Cabaret law is gone but the ability to open a legal music/dance venue for 200+ people is still very restricted and new rezonings are making it worse. Let’s talk about it. 7pm. Secret Project Robot. 1186 Broadway BK. Get there early. — flo with the crazy whip appeal (@djtara) March 26, 2018

So many vacant storefronts. Why not incentivize owners to lease to small business that can benefit everyone in a community and promote culture? And keep the rent affordable over time, not until the area becomes more poppin? 1186 Broadway BK. 7pm!

— flo with the crazy whip appeal (@djtara) March 26, 2018

Veteran DJ Stretch Armstrong, who was one of the FOMO DJs, replied to Tara:

The end of the cabaret laws seems like a superficial step forward in lieu of last night. Apparently F&L was one of several establishments raided. https://t.co/JkqPSDbqym — Stretch Armstrong (@StretchArmy) March 24, 2018

Though FOMO got shut down, one of the party’s other DJs, Darling Chuck tweeted they’re still planning on coming back next month: