Councilman Rafael Espinal danced all the way to bank before he introduced his bills to repeal the cabaret-license law and create a city nightlife panel.
Throughout the past year, as Espinal advocated for the nightlife-friendly legislation, some of the city’s biggest bar owners made hefty contributions to the lawmaker’s campaign, including TAO Group COO Bill Bonbrest and Mitchell Banchik, owner of Down the Hatch in the West Village and Jake’s Dilemma and the Gin Mill on the Upper West Side.
Donations from nine industry stakeholders totaled $10,000 and accounted for 9 percent of Espinal’s $108,290 re-election warchest, according to campaign finance records reviewed by the Post.
“I think 9 percent from one industry is starting to become a significant portion of his overall funds, such that the public might perceive the industry could have an outsized influence,” said Alex Camarda of government watchdog group Reinvent Albany, noting that such contributions are legal.
Espinal’s bills would make it easier for nightclubs, bars and restaurants to operate in the city. The City Council passed his bill in August to establish an office of nightlife that will act as a liaison between the industry and City Hall. A bill to repeal the city’s cabaret law, which requires establishments that allow dancing to hold a special license and meet a host of other requirements, is in committee.
The Brooklyn councilman, who is running unopposed for re-election in November, has said he became interested in revoking the 1926 dancing ban after reading about its original intent to discourage interracial mingling at clubs during the Harlem Renaissance.
“New York City’s nightlife plays an important role in the lives of many New Yorkers, including my own,” he said in a statement emailed to the Post, which did not address donations. “After seeing many of our beloved venues close their doors, I felt it was important to intervene.”
A spokesman for Espinal said “there was no lobbying going on whatsoever” and the councilman doesn’t know most of the nightlife donors.
“There’s really no link to pay to play here,” Erika Tannor said.
In addition to Bonbrest’s $1,500 donation and Banchik’s $500, Espinal received the following donations from the industry:
Ariel Zablozki, owner of Zablozki’s bar in Brooklyn ($2,750); Jeffrey Bank, CEO of the company that runs Virgil’s barbeque and Carmine’s ($1,000); Stanislav Chijik, a partner in a Brooklyn entertainment complex ($1,000); Gregory Giannone, CFO of a company that owns Sant Ambroeus, Casa Lever and Felice restaurants ($1,000); Doug Griebel, chairman and co-founder of the Rosa Mexicano restaurant chain ($1,000); Rachel Nelson, owner of the Brooklyn bars Happyfun Hideaway, Flowers for All Occasions and the artists warehouse/gallery/bar Secret Project Robot ($1,000); and Justin Todd Patrick, owner of the Market Hotel in Bushwick and the Trans-Pecos club in Queens ($250).