About Metropolis in Motion

Metropolis in Motion was founded in 2006 by New York City residents who believe that our right to dance should not be restricted.

Ever since NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani created the Nightclub Enforcement Task Force in 1997 to enact his "Quality of Life" campaign, the city has been waging a war against nightlife culture and industry. The most lethal weapon in the city's arsenal aimed against nightlife are Prohibition-era laws known as the "Cabaret Laws".

As clubs, bars and lounges are fined, padlocked and shut down, citizens lose places that foster social interaction and artists have fewer places to express themselves. The city is losing a vital part of its cultural identity and an economic engine that fuels a variety of city businesses.

We are fighting to legalize dancing in New York because:

• dance is a key form of human expression and should be protected under our constitutional right to freedom of expression
• the cabaret laws are archaic and have racist origins - they were originally a prohibition-era response to interracial mixing through social dance
• the cabaret laws are redundant - stringent ordinances are already in place to govern noise, alcohol, and crowd density
• the cabaret laws are bad for business – it is difficult for small venue owners to acquire dancing licenses and small venues are unfairly penalized for patron dancing

Metropolis in Motion and Legalize Dancing NYC
In 2001, a group of concerned New Yorkers organized NYC: No Dancing Allowed, which later became Legalize Dancing NYC. Legalize Dancing worked for several years to raise awareness of this issue and studied ways to either amend or repeal NYC's cabaret laws. In 2006, a separate group of NYC residents formed Metropolis in Motion to bring new attention and energy to this issue. Now, Metropolis in Motion and Legalize Dancing have joined forces to fight NYC's cabaret laws.