The New York City Cabaret Law was passed in 1926, during the Harlem Renaissance. It was a dancing ban placed in all public areas of New York City. It forbade any musical, singing, dancing, or other form of amusement. The license was not available to the average citizen, though, as it costed a significant amount of money to obtain. The main reason for the mandatory license was due to noise complaints. However, In 1971, the Cabaret Law was modified to exempt musical performance by putting a restriction on 3+ people playing any stringed instrument. Throughout its history, mayor Rudy Giuliani was the main enforcer of this law, resurrecting the dormant rule as part of his implementation of broken windows policy to fine and shut down perceived nuisance bars in the late 1990s.

         Anyone who wished to purchase a cabaret license has to undergo extreme background checks which includes fingerprinting, financial records, surveillance, physical security, fire, building, electrical, health, and record keeping requirements; and to pay the fees associated with each compliance. In 2016, the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs claimed there were then 118 cabaret licenses in a city of 25,100 licensed food service establishments. The law was heavily criticized both by the general public and from within city government. The limits on types of instruments were ruled unconstitutional in Warren Chiasson v. New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, 132 Misc.2d 640 (N.Y. County Sup. Ct., 1986), and the three-musician limit was found to be unconstitutional in a later decision in the same case in Warren Chiasson v. New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, 138 Misc.2d 394 (N.Y. County Sup. Ct., 1988).

        Although the code was change to reflect the ruling as to types of instrument, the text to reflect the elimination of he three-musician limit was not corrected in the text of the Administrative Code. In June 2017, New York City Council member Rafael Espinal introduced a bill for the full repeal of the regulation. It was passed 44-1 by the City Council on October 31, 2017. However, a venue can still be fined or closed by the city, as the law still requires the venue to be located in a zone that allows dancing.

Reference:

“Text of 1926 Cabaret Law As enacted” (PDF). Zort Music. Zort Music. Retrieved 24 September 2017.