By: Jared Evan
A real-life Footloose is happening, but instead of being located in Bible Belt Texas, this crackdown on dancing is occurring in a place well-known for its restaurants, bars, and parties, the Hamptons.
As many bars and restaurants are struggling to survive after the strangulation of “non-essential” businesses during the COVID era, maintaining a liquor license during the popular tourist months of the summer is essential.
The East End of Long Island authorities are hosting surprise raids on establishments in the hopes of finding people they can accuse of dancing and dining them or shutting them down.
According to The New York Post’s Page 6:
In June, Ruschmeyer’s lost its temporary liquor license after an officer responded to complaints about “an unruly patron” and discovered that some of the diners were (gasp!) dancing.
Any restaurant with a liquor license risk being designated a nightclub if they allow dancing. This could mean the revocation of their liquor license.
Jon Krasner, owner of Shagwong Tavern gave a statement to The New York Post saying
“We don’t understand why the East Hampton town board is making local businesses the enemy, when business owners want to work together with the town to solve problems. We have the same goals, which include improving the water quality and waste management instead of fighting with bars over dancing rules.”
Sources said Sel Rrose, TT’s Montauk and 668 The Gig Shack have also been in the crosshairs of the Town of East Hampton, which has oversight over the South Fork hamlet that has more hotels and young weekend visitors than any other in the East End, reports Jennifer Gould.
A Montauk restaurant owner who didn’t want to be named for fear of retribution from local inspectors told The New York Post, “the town board members “petty and small overlords from East Hampton who want to impose their idea of order on Montauk, even though most of them have never been to Montauk. East Hampton is a green-lawn, white-shoe, very affluent town, while Montauk has a tourist environment, where people rely on renting their homes for extra income,” he said.
Peter Van Scoyoc, the East Hampton Town supervisor, denied the entrapment claims in a statement to The New York Post and reiterated to Side Dish that the raids ensure restaurants don’t exceed capacity.
NYC itself used to have similar laws until recently when officials repealed the city’s 91-year-old Cabaret Law.
Originally enacted in 1926 during prohibition, the Cabaret Law required any businesses in the city that sells food and/or drink to obtain a cabaret license in order to host “musical entertainment, singing, dancing or other form of amusement. Former mayor Guiliani resurrected the rarely enforced laws in the late 90’s. Rudy Giuliani’s use of the law as part of his “broken windows” policing was highly contentious due to the selective nature of its use.