Metropolis in Motion : Dance For Your Rights! - July 22nd

[Guest dafleur]

at the corner of the Honorable Mayor Bloomberg’s home

Metropolis in Motion : Dance For Your Rights! - July 22nd

Join Metropolis in Motion in an open-air dance and participatory movement event to bring attention to the antiquated and restrictive New York City cabaret laws. This is an invitation to come dance with us on Saturday, July 22nd from 2pm to 4pm in front of the Mayor's house!* This is an open-air event to call attention to the Cabaret Laws which restrict dancing in NYC...

Here we are in a city of an estimated 15 million people,** and there are

only 244 currently legal places dance... And that number includes "adult

dancing" venues... Its time to dance in the streets and remind our city that DANCING IS NOT A CRIME!

We are a Metropolis in Motion!

www.metropolisinmotion.org

Saturday, July 22, 2006

2.00PM - 4.00PM

Where: At the corner of the Honorable Mayor Bloomberg’s home.

East 79th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Take the 6 train to 77th, the M79 or M2L buses to 79th and Fifth, or the M1, M2, M3, or M4 buses to 79th and Madison.

Who: YOU! And artists, ravers, i-bankers, cheerleaders, lawyers, doctors, hip-hoppers, street performers, ballroom, swing, Irish folk and African dancers, jazz aficionados, waiters, actors, janitors, punk rockers, politicians and a slew of your fellow New Yorkers.

**Wear your dancing/performance clothes, shoes, etc.**

Why: In 1926, New York City sought to limit interaction among the races and control “public lewdness” by clamping down on the jazz scenes found in Harlem and West 52nd Street (and later in the bohemian Greenwich Village). To this end, the City established Cabaret Laws that limited dancing to specially licensed public spaces serving food or drink where three or more persons congregated, and stipulated that only musicians “of good character” could be licensed to play. Over the years, musicians won the right to forgo licensing, but laws regulating dancing remain on the books. As part of his “Quality of Life” campaign, Mayor Rudolph Guiliani used the laws to crack down on bars and clubs without a license that allowed people to dance. Venues were fined, or worse, padlocked and closed forever. The laws continue to be enforced under Mayor Bloomberg, while his Administration gives lip service to repeal or reform. According to the Department of Consumer Affairs, there are currently only 244 actively legal places to dance in New York City, including strip joints and clubs.

Why are these laws still on the books? Some people say it’s to enforce a vague notion of the “quality of life.” Other people know it’s to keep property values high, club owners with cabaret licenses rich, and ordinary people, otherwise known as the citizens of New York, “in line.” And we don’t mean a kick line.

For more information, you can hear from our much respected predecessors in this fight (it goes back to Mayor Guiliani)-

www.legalizedancingnyc.com

To stay informed or help plan & promote the event,

please join our mailing list by sending an e-mail to

info @ metropolisinmotion.org

We also invite you to contact us by phone at 646-365-3018 or add your personal story to our blog at www.metropolisinmotion.blogspot.com.