Council Targets Nightclubs

Councilwoman Melinda Katz is seeking tighten city control over nightclubs with three new proposals. The legislation would ban club owners from requiring patrons to buy alcohol, set up a new city liquor agency, and raise the age of entry to bars. A string of murders this year associated with Manhattan's raucous nightclub scene has spawned a crackdown in recent months by police and city authorities. Katz criticized the common practice of clubs requiring patrons buy two or three liquor bottles, priced upwards of $250, to gain entry. Known as "bottle service", a bounty for club owners, it "forces people to consume unsafe amounts of alcohol, which can in turn lead to the kind of tragic violence we have been seeing too much in New York City," said Katz in a press statement. Katz said she would seek to establish a New York City Liquor Authority to take command for the city from the State Liquor Authority, which she said is ill-equipped. The new agency would incorporate more input from community boards, and have the power to hand out and revoke liquor licenses Finally, Katz proposed raising the age of admittance to bars from age 16 to 18. "There is no reason for 16-year-olds to be permitted in bars and clubs without proper supervision," she said. Mayor Bloomberg last week signed the new Bouncer Bill into law, empowering the city to shutter clubs that fail to properly screen security personnel. Police meanwhile padlocked the Chelsea nightclub Spirit after several alcohol and drug-related violations.—Mike McPhate