Albany officials are trying to bring nightlife back to the city. Late-night restrictions were initially put in place to tone down the noise, but some say the city has gone nearly silent.
Craig Earle, also known as DJ TGIF, has been performing for 20 years. He believes there are issues preventing a vibrant downtown scene that aren’t being acknowledged.
As the number of bars and clubs that welcome live entertainment has shrunk over the years, Earle says so too have places to grab a late-night meal.
“There’s nowhere to get food so if there were like, certain hotspots in the city that could like…you know …warehouse district, we could put a food truck down there. Central Ave, we could put a food truck out there; like we could just give those small businesses a opportunity to also, you know, make money at that time.”
Earle is opposed to the city’s cabaret law. The policy requires businesses to obtain a license to host live entertainment. While initially passed in 2012 as a way to prevent late-night violence, critics say it has since caused businesses to close, eliminating places for people to gather.
Others say the city needs to do a better job catering to its own communities.
For instance, Richard Peterkin, better known as DJ Syxx Figgaz, says venues in the city lack a Caribbean presence.
“Most of Albany does not really cater to Caribbean people the way that they could and the way that they should cause there’s a market.”
Peterkin has a simple solution.
“They just need a weekly spot... it’s hard to find. The most you get is once a month here, uh if you’re Caribbean.. and that’s about it.”
Mayor Dorcey Applyrs wants to revitalize nightlife as a means of boosting the city’s economy.
In addition to making it easier to get a cabaret license, the Democrat created a nightlife council to find other opportunities to support after-hours entertainment.
She says the council has been “hard at work” since forming earlier this year.
“We do have some preliminary recommendations that they have put forth but that full report will be available July 1 and then my administration will start to implement some of those recommendations.”