Over 150 New York music venues have banded together to form the New York Independent Venue Association, which is affiliated with the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). Today, August 4 is a day of action and conversation to try and raise awareness for the dire state of affairs that faces many New York City music venues. They seek the passage of the bi-partisan Save Our Stages Act, which was just introduced in the US Senate and a similar bill, the Restart Act, which was recently introduced in the House of Representatives.
Among the over 150 venues who have signed onto the association including Avant Gardner, Arlene’s Grocery, Bowery Ballroom, City Winery, Good Room, Elsewhere, Knockdown Center, Public Records, Nowadays, National Sawdust and House of Yes.
They note a few salient points in the campaign.
– On average, a NY venue already has $150,000 their landlord could claim in arrears and more than 80% of venues have no definitive arrangement with their landlords.
– On average, a venue will need $300,000 to sustain itself if they are to remain closed until 2021. $60 million for the industry in aggregate.
This compounds with what the NIVA has polled among their members that said 90% of them are in danger of closing soon if they don’t get financial support. Fundraisers, live streams and merch sales are not enough to keep venues open and employees paid. They need help the congress needs to do their jobs instead of just lining the pockets of their donors and business friends.
NYIVA Member List
11th St. Bar
ALPHAVILLE
Arlene's Grocery
Avant Gardner
Baby's All Right
Barbès
Berlin Under A
Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater
Blackthorn 51
Blue Gallery
Blue Note Entertainment Group – Blue Note New York, Napa, Hawaii, Sony Hall NYC & Howard Theatre DC
Bowery Ballroom
C'mon Everybody
Carolines on Broadway
City Winery
Communion
Concert Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture
CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing)
Drom
EastVille Comedy Club
Elsewhere
Eris Evolution, LLC
Ethel's Club
Freddy's Bar & Backroom
Gold Sounds
Good Room
GOSPËL
Hartstop
Herbert Holler
House of Yes
Iridium
ISSUE Project Room
Joe's Pub
Knitting Factory
Knitting Factory Brooklyn
Knockdown Center
Le Poisson Rouge
Littlefield
Lola
Lucky 13 Saloon
Magick City
Manhattan Center/ Hammerstein Ballroom
Market Hotel + Trans-Pecos
MARKET HOTEL + TRANS-PECOS
Murmrr
National Sawdust
Nord-NewldRockDeli
Nowadays
NUBLU CLASSIC
Nuyorican Poets Cafe Inc.
Our Wicked Lady
Peter Mac LLC dba Golden Girls LIVE & Judy Garland LIVE
Pianos NYC
Pioneer Works
Public Records
QED
RAD THEATER (FORMERLY PLAYSTATION THEATER)
Rocks Off
Roulette
S.O.B.’s
Saint Vitus
ShapeShifter Lab
St. George Theatre
Starr Bar
SubCulture NY
Summerstage
Ten Hope
The Bell House
The Bitter End
The Bowery Ballroom
The Bowery Electric
The Broadway
The Cobra Club
The Cutting Room
The Delancey
The DL
The Footlight Bar
The Kingsland
The Muse Brooklyn/ ABCirque
The Owl Music PArlor
The Paper Box Music & Art Inc
The People's Improv Theatre
The Stand NYC
The Suffolk Theater
The Sultan Room
The Town Hall
The Way Station
Town Stages
Trans-Pecos
TV Eye
Union Hall
Union Pool
United Palace
Viewcy
