Help Save Roxy (And NYC Nightlife)

This Tuesday, you have a real opportunity to stand up for New York City nightlife, which has been increasingly under attack from a small group of residents. These groups are fighting to end the city's legacy as a global nightlife destination, attempting to allow fewer licenses to be issued, closing bars early, and even shutting down some venues.

The historic Roxy nightclub is attempting to reopen, and their ability to obtain a liquor license may be blocked by Chelsea's fringe anti-nightlife activists. On Tuesday, you can attend Community Board Four's Business Licenses & Permits Meeting and ask the Board to preserve New York's outstanding nightlife.

Roxy could practically be designated a landmark, defined in New York City as a structure at least thirty years old that possesses "...a special character or special historical or aesthetic interest or value as part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristics of the city, state, or nation," according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Roxy first opened in the 1970s as a roller disco, and was known as the 'Studio 54 of roller rinks,' whose guest list included
the 1980 US Mens Hockey Team, which had just won an Olympic Gold Medal for the United States. In 1982, Roxy transformed into one of the birthplaces of hip hop, showcasing hip hop pioneers as illustrious as Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash. My own memories are more recent; I was a regular attendee of Roxy Saturdays, the John Blair-sponsored gay night where icons like Madonna and Cher would
occasionally perform. Even beyond its cultural and historical importance, though, Roxy was an absolute success story as a clubgoing destination; it remains a beloved fixture in New York's nightlife and has earned the right to reopen in the neighborhood that it has fostered for over thirty years.

Beyond The Roxy's license problem, there is a disturbing trend first reported last April in The New York Sun. "In most parts of Manhattan, bar and club owners say, it has become nearly impossible to open new nightlife establishments that are permitted to serve alcohol until 4 am." The "City That Never Sleeps" is under attack from those residents who move into neighborhoods that have been revitalized in large part
by their vibrant nightlife, only to attempt gut that very nightlife and turn the neighborhoods into the equivalent of suburban bedroom communities. Unless we act now, we could see our 4am nightspots dwindle off. Make your voice heard Tuesday.

This is more than a lifestyle concern; nightclubs and the businesses that serve them bring over $10 billion in economic activity to New York City and employ over 100,000 people. On Tuesday, tell the Board that failure to grant full liquor licenses will effect thousands of your friends and neighbors.

The fight won't be over Tuesday, though: please mark your calendars for Wednesday, July 23rd, when the full board will meet to debate its final recommendation to the State Liquor Authority. We need hundreds of people, gay and otherwise, to come and show power in action. The anti-nightlife frenzy of Community Board Four is destroying the quality of life for thousands of people in our community. Let's
exercise our democratic rights and reopen Roxy.

I hope you'll join me at both meetings. Bring a friend. Bring five. The future of New York City nightlife is in your hands. And hey, we can all go out for some drinks afterwards. Hopefully we can find a place nearby still open.

Meeting Details:

Community Board 4, Business Licenses & Permits Meeting, Tuesday, July 8th @ 6:30PM at The Westin Hotel (270 W. 43rd St.) in The Minetta Room.

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008, 6:30 p.m, Roosevelt Hospital, 1000 Tenth
Av. (b. 58th / 59th)

Always,

Ryan J. Davis
ryannewyork@Gmail.com

PS: Want to help? Attend this Facebook Event and invite your friends!See you Tuesday.

Double Called It

Remember how I called it?

Well, it turns out that I SO TOTALLY CALLED IT:

New Poll Shows 12 Point Lead For Obama

An L.A. Times/Bloomberg Poll says that in a two-man contest, 49% of respondents favor Barack Obama, while 37% support John McCain. With Ralph Nader and Bob Barr added to the mix, Obama holds 15-point edge.

I Am A Genius, Bending History Toward My Left-Handed Will

Like Barack Obama (and 4 of the last 5 presidents), I am left-handed. We lefties are an unusual bunch, making up only 7-10% of the population, but the truth is, we rule the universe and dominate the lesser right-handed masses in all fields and on all levels. Here's a partial list of fellow leftward travelers...

Artists, Writers and Musicians:

Michaelangelo
Leonardo da Vinci
W.A. Mozart
L.V. Beethoven
Mark Twain
Paul McCartney
Joann Wolfgang von Goethe
Jim Henson
Robert Plant
David Bowie
David Byrne
Kurt Cobain
Cole Porter
Serge Prokofiev
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Maurice Ravel
Glenn Gould
Jimi Hendrix
Paul Simon
Sting
Michael Stipe
Paul Williams
Wynton Marsalis
Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide author)
Matt Groening (Simpsons creator)
Joel Coen (Coen Bros.)

Great Historical Figures:

Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
Albert Einsten
Marie Curie
Napoleon Bonaparte
Julius Caeser
Charlemagne
Alexander The Great
Aristotle
Friedrich Nietzsche
Winston Churchill
Dr. Albert Schweitzer
Henry Ford
Bill Gates
John D. Rockefeller
Clarence Darrow
John F. Kennedy
Bill Clinton
Ronald Reagan
Colin Powell
Harry Truman
Fidel Castro
Joan of Arc
Billy The Kid

Hot Celebrities

Oprah Winfrey
Brad Pitt
Angelina Jolie
Marilyn Monroe
Julia Roberts
Diane Keaton
Dianne Wiest
Robert DeNiro
Fred Astaire
Dan Aykroyd
Jerry Seinfeld
Lenny Bruce
Jean-Paul Gaultier
Kenneth Branagh
Pierce Brosnan
Jim Carrey
Charlie Chaplin
Morgan Freeman
Cary Grant
Richard Pryor
Robert Redford
Sylvester Stallone
Mark Wahlberg
Bruce Willis
Carol Burnett
Greta Garbo
Judy Garland
Goldie Hawn
Edward R. Murrow
Ted Koppel
Jay Leno
David Letterman

Lots more here. Basically, everyone who you ever thought was cool, or a genius, or really really attractive.

Very Specific

With this attack on Obama, Karl Rove aims for a pretty small universe of resentful voters -- namely, country club members who are resentful of all those black guys at country clubs who look cool and drink martinis with hot chicks:

"Even if you never met him, you know this guy... He’s the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by."

You know him, people. You see him every day at the Heritage Club, and you almost gave him the keys to your Lexus yesterday. Just as a joke. Goddamn cool looking black guys, always taking the last eclair at the buffet table.

Called It

I called it, bitches:

Barack finally has his bounce. For weeks many political experts and pollsters have been wondering why the race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain had stayed so tight, even after the Illinois senator wrested the nomination from Hillary Clinton. With numbers consistently showing rock-bottom approval ratings for President Bush and a large majority of Americans unhappy with the country's direction, the opposing-party candidate should, in the normal course, have attracted more disaffected voters. Now it looks as if Obama is doing just that. A new NEWSWEEK Poll shows that he has a substantial double-digit lead, 51 percent to 36 percent, over McCain among registered voters nationwide.

You people have no faith, even when I tell you what is going to happen. 15 point lead, y'all.

Texas GOP Fuckery

On sale at the Texas Republican Convention:

Noted Without Comment

Mickey Kaus, celebrated political and cultural blogger for MSN's Slate online mag:

Will Obama Kill Bling? Mary Battiata thinks maybe. ... Now that she mentions it, I kind of hope Obama's election will kill off much of hip-hop, at least the gangsta-inspired parts. But just killing off bling and gangsta fashion would be a start. ... 3:08 A.M.