Comedy club owners, local politicians and comedians held a rally in the East Village today to call on officials to allow clubs to safely reopen, and save arts venues from economic collapse due to COVID-19.
"This is serious business, this is not a laughing matter," said organizer Kambri Crews, the owner of venue Q.E.D. Astoria, at today's rally outside the New York Comedy Club. "We are holding this rally to ask New York state to give live entertainment the same consideration they've given other industries... For over six months, there's been no rent relief and no plan for us to reopen. New Yorkers can go indoors to the gym, bowling, go gambling in casinos, [but not] a comedy club—it makes no sense."
The State Liquor Authority's pandemic-related restrictions prohibit restaurants and venues from offering live music, ticketed events, and other forms of outdoor entertainment, with the exception of "incidental music" and trivia nights.
Crews noted that club owners had banded together earlier this month and sent Governor Andrew Cuomo a proposal covering several steps to safely reopen arts and other events outdoors and indoors with restrictions. They are asking for venues to be able to immediately allow ticketed outdoor live performances (with fewer than 50 people), and either allow clubs to resume indoor shows at 25% capacity (similar to restaurants) or at 50% but without food and beverage services (similar to bowling alleys).
"The Governor has rightly talked about science and statistics but is not sharing what the numbers are for when ticketed arts & entertainment will resume," the group said in a statement. "The requests are based on comparable rules of operations for safe reopening already in place, based in common sense. All we ask is that the comedy clubs are swiftly allowed the same newly regulated reopening parameters as other NYC industries, and that we are informed as to the logic of these decisions either way."
As with the restaurant industry, comedy club owners say they are in danger of going under because they've received little support during the crisis and currently exist in a state of limbo over when they'll be allowed to reopen.
"What really frustrates me more than anything is that we have venues we run and operate in states like Connecticut and all we get is support," said New York Comedy Club co-owner Emilio Savone. "We get dialogue, guidance, we're getting a conversation, and we're literally pulling our comedians to Connecticut to perform in a field. Whereas we have plenty of rooms and venues that can do this safely here [in NYC]. All we're asking for is to be given the opportunity to do this safely because we 100% can."
"I know I speak for so many performers when I say we moved here or stayed here because of these amazing venues. All we want to do is stay here to come back to these places that provided the fabric and culture of NYC," said comedian Ophira Eisenberg. "New York without culture is a very expensive Cincinnati. I'd like for it to go back to being New York."
Fellow comedian Christian Finnegan noted that the COVID restrictions haven't stopped shows from happening, only made them more unsafe. "I can tell you this: the ban on live comedy has done nothing of the sort," he said. "Shows are happening every night–in backyards, parking lots, and private homes. The only thing Governor Cuomo's guidelines do is prevent them from being done safely."
Richard Azzopardi, senior advisor to Cuomo, told Gothamist that they have been in contact with the club owners about changing the rules: “If there is any time when a laugh is needed, it's now. We've been talking to the industry and other stakeholders and it's our hope we'll be able to put together guidance where these performances can resume in a way that also keeps New Yorkers safe."
During his press conference this morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio also signaled that he was open to making it easier for clubs to resume.
"We'll look at that one—honestly, it hasn't been one of the areas we've focused on a lot, but it's an important part of life in the city, it's something we're proud of," de Blasio said. "Outdoors it works so long as it's the right size group and there's distancing. Obviously we always prefer outdoors. But in terms of indoors, it's something we'll talk about... we'll come back with an answer on that soon."
Several New York bars, restaurants and venues have already filed a lawsuit against the SLA over the ticketed events rules, arguing the rule change is not only unworkable, but also unconstitutional. One Times Square venue was able to quietly reopen with limited capacity live shows thanks to a loophole in the rules—they don't have a liquor license, so they don't fall under the SLA rules, nor are they technically considered a theater.
Senator Charles Schumer has been campaigning in support of bipartisan legislation meant to provide financial relief to independent live venues that are struggling during the pandemic. Last week, he was joined by Jerry Seinfeld at the Gotham Comedy Club to advocate for the bill.
