Bad news for anyone who thought they could get away with opening a strip joint disguised as a family-style Italian restaurant, or whatever; this week, Governor Cuomo signed a bill that requires venues applying for liquor licenses to state whether or not they'll be offering exotic dancing, making it much easier for neighborhoods to get riled when so-called bikini bars set up shop on their streets.
Previously, bars could boast pole dancing, lap dancing and other pretty-NSFW offerings without alerting communities about it beforehand, as long as the dancers weren't topless— string bikinis and G strings, though, were A-OK. But recently a number of politicians and residents have complained about two such establishments that were trying to open in Astoria—one, called Racks, had its liquor license application denied last month, and one tentatively titled Queen of Hearts failed to open after the neighborhood lashed out against it. Supporters hope the new legislation will make it easier for community members to know exactly what kind of bars are opening nearby.
"[The new law] makes the process more transparent so that a community knows up front what kind of establishment is going to open," Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas told the Daily News. "Obviously if you are gyrating around somebody’s lap or dancing on a pole with 3 inches of fabric covering your nipples, that should be considered an adult establishment." One more strike for the topless glory days, NYC.
