In the mid-2000s, you could find Ariel Palitz at her hopping bar in New York City’s Bowery neighbourhood. “It was all about the vibe,” Palitz told OBJ of Sutra Lounge. “It was very diverse. It was old-school hip-hop, reggae, Latin, ‘80’s rock and roll. Two floors, two bars, two DJ booths, underground DJ-driven dance scene, […]
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In the mid-2000s, you could find Ariel Palitz at her hopping bar in New York City’s Bowery neighbourhood.
“It was all about the vibe,” Palitz told OBJ of Sutra Lounge. “It was very diverse. It was old-school hip-hop, reggae, Latin, ‘80’s rock and roll. Two floors, two bars, two DJ booths, underground DJ-driven dance scene, red lights and it was really music-driven … It was really about culture and community and people who love music and dancing.”
Opened in 2004, Sutra Lounge became known as the “noisiest bar in NYC” for the constant noise complaints it received. The bar, which closed in 2014, was also subject to unannounced police raids under the multi-agency response to community hotspots (MARCH) program.
“That is ultimately what activated me and politicized me to stand up and defend, not only myself, but the entire industry,” Palitz told a crowd of local business and community leaders at the Canada After Dark summit Wednesday.
When New York City established its Office of Nightlife in 2017 and was looking for its first “Night Mayor,” Palitz threw her name in the ring and was appointed to the role in 2018.
Over her five-year tenure, Palitz brought several changes to “the city that never sleeps,” including changing the approach to nightlife from something to be punished to something to be supported.
To that end, she went on a listening tour throughout the city’s five boroughs to hear how her office could improve the nighttime economy. She turned the MARCH program to CURE, or Coordinating a United Resolution with Establishments, requiring police and other entities to engage with the Office of Nightlife before taking enforcement action.
“We have such a vibrant 24-hour economy, but it’s not just about nightlife. We have clubs and venues, but we also have so much other activity. The way that the city was interfacing with it was really without a lot of proactive planning. (It was) more reactive, using templates of daytime governance to be used at night when life changes so dramatically – people move differently, traffic moves differently, sanitation moves differently – and we didn’t really see a harmony or coordinated effort that worked to support and improve the way life moves at night,” she told OBJ in an interview Wednesday.
“Creating the Office of Nightlife is not about how to make more nightlife. It is to a certain degree, but in order to do that (we needed) all the other multi-agency coordination, proactive planning with an intent to be safer and address quality of life and do it with good intentions,” she added.
When asked what Ottawa can learn from what she was able to accomplish in New York City in a five-year period, Palitz told OBJ it’s about trusting the process.
“The fact that Ottawa has an office of nightlife and you have a champion in Mathieu (Grondin, Ottawa’s nightlife commissioner), who was appointed because of his passion and vision and understanding of this global movement, is extraordinary. I think it’s extraordinary that the ‘city that fun forgot’ at least had enough insight to understand that there is room for growth and there are ways to do it.
“I think what (Grondin) needs is the breathing room, the time and space to make those changes, take the lessons learned from around the world and understand what the issues are locally. (Residents need) to have trust that Ottawa can be a place of tremendous vibrancy, attracting talent to live and work here, but this comes from having a plan and having the purpose to do so.”
Since being appointed in 2024, Grondin has been criticized locally for not adding vibrancy to Ottawa’s nightlife – criticisms that Palitz knows all too well. She said she managed expectations and cut through the noise with clear communication.
“We had an agenda. We did listening tours. We understood what people wanted from a creative standpoint, from a residential standpoint and we created a plan, communicated that plan and executed on that plan in a step-by-step fashion that was realistic and fair. Having unrealistic expectations of doing things quickly, that’s not based in reality, especially when you understand the way bureaucracy is,” she told OBJ.
In fact, the work of a municipal nightlife office never stops, Palitz added.
“I don’t know what people are expecting, for some seismic shift? These are all small, incremental changes that will continue. I had my position for five years. I have a successor in that position. He’s been there for three years now and there will be someone after him and someone after him. This is not something that has an end. This is a journey and people will feel that once they see how it is impacting the shift on how police deal with them, the city deals with them.”
When asked how Ottawa can expand nightlife past 5 p.m. downtown, Palitz said that she expects people to naturally gravitate toward shared spaces after years of pandemic isolation.
“The return to office will be helpful. Time heals all wounds. I think we have an isolation epidemic happening and the pendulum will shift where hopefully people will really miss other people and miss enjoying themselves after work, beyond (scrolling on) TikTok on the couch,” she said, adding that affordability remains a top priority to revitalize Ottawa’s economy after dark.
“Having the city find ways to support life at night after work (with) affordable spaces and entertainment that is not reliant so much on ticket prices or high-cost dinners and drinks. Maybe we should all live in a permanent happy hour for a while.”
As in other cities, New York City’s nighttime businesses were affected by the bureaucracy behind permits and fines. Palitz said one of the ways her team got rid of red tape was by revisiting all the city codes and assessing them individually.
“We isolated over 100 violations that we could either reduce the fine or get rid of the violation altogether or create a cure period so that, if a business was not in compliance with a certain standard, they had 30 to 60 days to cure that,” said Tian Weinberg, a government relations strategist who works with Palitz at her consulting firm All Hours Advisory. “The result of that was something like $16 million in reduced fines and fees to small businesses.”
When it comes to Ottawa, Palitz said she would work with businesses and landlords to animate unused spaces after dark.
“I would love to co-opt a few of these beautiful buildings and create white-box spaces with amazing lighting and sound systems that would allow different DIY underground culture creators to come and go and create events at low or no cost. (I would) create 24-hour entertainment districts where people could … enjoy life at night in an affordable way that is supported by the government.”
All in all, Palitz said Ottawa has a bright future where nightlife is concerned.
“Patience, Ottawa. Have trust and faith in the process and understand that there’s a global movement that’s happening around the world that is revisiting the way cities interface with life at night. To be on the right side of history, to allow growth and change, don’t be afraid about safety and quality of life. Enforcement is not the only way. Partnership, mediation, communication and respect and seeing life at night as an asset, not a liability.”
