美国国家公共电台 NPR New Yorkers Can Now Put On Dancing Shoes And Legally Get 'Footloose' In Public Spaces

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

It's a moment to dance in New York. The New York City Council has voted to repeal¹ a ban on dancing in bars and restaurants that's been on the books for 91 years. The so-called Cabaret Law was passed during Prohibition² - a way to crack down on speakeasies. Racially mixed jazz clubs were also targets, but the ban's been enforced irregularly over the last nine decades. However, it's never quite gone away. You could just ask Andrew Muchmore. He's a lawyer and owns Muchmore's. It's a bar and music venue³ in Brooklyn. It was cited in 2013 for unlawful swaying. Mr. Muchmore joins us from New York.

Thanks very much for being with us.

ANDREW MUCHMORE: Thank you, Scott.

SIMON: Are you swaying now?

MUCHMORE: Just a little bit, within legal bounds.

SIMON: So what happened?

MUCHMORE: We had a noise complaint from a neighbor from people speaking to loudly on the sidewalk. And when the police came out, they issued two summons, one for violation⁴ of the New York City noise code and one for violation the Cabaret Law, which in the context of bars and restaurants, prohibits musical entertainment, singing, dancing or other forms of amusement without a license⁵. And that license is very difficult to obtain and was only possessed⁶ by about a hundred bars and restaurants out of more than 25,000 in New York.

SIMON: All the years I've spent in and out of one establishment or another in New York, I never until this moment feared that I could run into - run afoul of the law in something like this. It's been very selectively enforced, hasn't it?

MUCHMORE: The enforcement has been uneven⁷ and arbitrary. It is a law that is fairly universally ignored, which allows it to be enforced often against groups that are more vulnerable and less politically popular. For instance, if someone wants to open up a hip-hop club, they're likely to run into more difficulties with their local community board than if they're opening up a rock club. In the same time, it's gone through periods of strict enforcement. In the '40s, '50s, '60s, you needed a cabaret card to be able to perform. And a lot of really famous musicians, like Chet Baker⁸ and Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk⁹, lost their cabaret cards due to either narcotics¹⁰ violations¹¹ or any other character issues and were unable to play music in the city of New York.

SIMON: So you would - you didn't just take this swaying down, did you?

MUCHMORE: (Laughter) No, I didn't. The swaying cuts to the unconstitutional vagueness and overbreadth of the law. When the police came, we were hosting a rock concert. And in fact, we were forced to censor¹² the genres¹³ of music we could play because the law. If we were to host DJs or electronic dance music or hip-hop or merengue or salsa or anything like that, people would dance. And we would run afoul of the law. So we had to play genres that would not lead to dancing. But then that begs the question, what is dancing?

SIMON: Yeah.

MUCHMORE: Swaying, toe tapping, head nodding - will any of that trigger the law? And it just was not clearly defined, leaving it open to abuse.

SIMON: So you're a lawyer. They really just went to court against the wrong guy, didn't they?

MUCHMORE: Well, it was more the principle of it. I got a ticket, and I intended to challenge it. And when I showed up the court, they had no record of the ticket. It had apparently¹⁴ been thrown out or disposed of, but it got me thinking about what a absurd and unconstitutional law this was with the First Amendment¹⁵ and 14th Amendment issues that it posed. And I decided¹⁶ that I should file a lawsuit¹⁷ to challenge its constitutionality in federal court.

SIMON: And that prevailed.

MUCHMORE: The likelihood that the law was going to get struck down was one of the factors that contributed to the council's decision to repeal it. But there were also many groups that came together to push for the repeal.

SIMON: Mr. Muchmore, I'm told you also have a laundromat in your bar.

MUCHMORE: I do have a small laundromat in the back. It's a New Orleans thing. I grew up in New Orleans, and there a lot of the bars have laundries so that while you're doing your laundry, you can have a beer or a coffee and get to know your neighbors.

SIMON: How are you going to celebrate?

MUCHMORE: We're going to throw a dance party this Saturday night, I believe - our first ever.

SIMON: Well, Mr. Muchmore, congratulations. And good swaying to you, OK?

MUCHMORE: Thank you very much.

SIMON: Andrew Muchmore, esquire and owner of Muchmore's in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

(SOUNDBITE OF KENNY LOGGINS SONG, "FOOTLOOSE")

1 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

2 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

3 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

4 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

7 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

8 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

9 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

10 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

12 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

13 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

14 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

15 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。