They like the nightlife: ‘Night mayors’ revive cities after dusk
Ariel Palitz, the former “night mayor” of New York, has a confession: She once owned the “No. 1 noisiest bar” in Manhattan. The city received a record number of complaints about the sound levels in her nightclub.
Years later, when Ms. Palitz became the city’s point person for overseeing nightlife, she found herself in the middle of other long-running wars between residents and hospitality venues. Ms. Palitz still chuckles at the irony. Her solution was to launch a conflict resolution program called MEND (Mediating Establishment Neighborhood Disputes).
During a pilot program, she convened a meeting between a nightclub and the seven residents of a neighboring apartment building. They sat in a circle of chairs in the venue’s courtyard. Both sides expressed their grievances. That led to greater mutual empathy.
“There was an agreement that there would
