The group Nightlife United was founded during the pandemic to raise money and distribute grants for people and businesses who power New York City’s nightlife industry.
In the subsequent years, the nonprofit has raised some $200,000 for over 100 people and groups.
And now, it's received a grant of its own: Nightlife United and 11 other organizations became the first recipients of the Office of Nightlife’s new Nightlife Grant.
The groups gathered for a ceremony announcing them as recipients this Monday on the dimly lit second floor of East New York's Queer Nightlife Community Center, another of the new grant's winners. Some of them were surprised to find themselves in a club-like environment.
"Uhh," one suited attendee of the small gathering of NYC nightlife leaders and officials commented after exiting the stairs into near darkness, multicolored lights shining through missing ceiling panels.
"Nightlife!" yelled somebody in the distance.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio created the Office of Nightlife back in 2017 as both a liaison between City Hall and the boroughs’ multibillion-dollar nightlife industry and an advocate for the city’s DIY venues. It is part of the Department of Small Business Services, and the new Nightlife Grant program is administered through the department's Neighborhood 360° program.
"It was an amazing learning process," the group’s president Varghese Chacko said of applying for the grant, shortly after accepting it. "It challenged our team to really think in terms of what is your impact on the neighborhood and how is it going to help other businesses in the community at large?"
The idea for the new program arose during a first-of-its-kind convening of the Nightlife Advisory Board at City Hall. The Board “had fabulous ideas” that inspired the creation of the Nightlife Grant, said Dynishal Gross, commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services.
Grant recipients – all nonprofit organizations – received up to $40,000 each, and $350,000 total, to continue “implementing projects that strengthen the resiliency, equity, and vitality of New York City’s nightlife industry and commercial corridors,” as a press release put it.
Recipients are expected to complete the granted projects by June 30, 2026. Nightlife United plans to put its grant toward a freshly launched workforce development initiative to train professionals from underrepresented communities in ownership and management roles, “ideally expanding it to as many participants as we can,” said Chacko.
Other expected project outcomes include enhancing venue sustainability, upping foot traffic; improving employee retention, harm reduction initiatives and cultural visibility.
“We are going to be creating a program that centers queer Caribbean culture through dance and music,” said Mohamed Q. Amin, founder and executive director of the Caribbean Equality Project. “It’s going to take place in Richmond Hill, Queens, which has one of the largest Caribbean populations in the City of New York.”
“ These venues and organizations give New Yorkers places to gather, create, express themselves and connect,” said Office of Nightlife Executive Director Jeffrey Garcia in his opening remarks on Monday. “ We're funding these organizations to implement projects that strengthen the nightlife industry across every borough,” all five of which were represented among the recipients.
Here is the full list of all 12 recipients of the inaugural NYC Nightlife Grants:
- Alice Austen House, North Shore, Staten Island
- Anti-Violence Project, Jackson Heights, Queens
- Caribbean Equality Project, Richmond Hill, Queens
- Future Meets Present, Bushwick, Brooklyn
- Harlem Late Night Jazz, Harlem, Manhattan
- Nightlife United, Ridgewood, Queens
- OutSmartNYC, Sunset Park, Brooklyn
- Pratt Center, Lower Manhattan
- Queer Nightlife Community Center, Brownsville, Brooklyn
- RedMoon Arts Movement, Mott Haven, The Bronx
- Sound Mind, Dumbo, Brooklyn
- The Bunker New York, Red Hook, Brooklyn
