Throughout the course of my fall semester of sophomore year, I have been developing a beat that explores the depths of NYC’s nightlife scene in terms of the level of employment within it, the evolution of music within the club scene, as well as how the drag industry has influenced the Big Apple’s nightlife sector. Be sure to check out the various works associated with my beat down below.
Employment Plights in the Nightlife Industry
A text-based multimedia story addressing the various issues that people immerse in nightlife employment often face, such as economic instability and sexual harassment.
Having generated $35 billion in gross revenue in 2016 alone, New York City continues to have an economic boom within its nightlife sector. However, according to the 2019 NYC Nightlife Economic Impact report and various anecdotal data, it is also weighted with problems for its workers such as a lack of stable income and, for female employees immersed in the nightlife sector, sexual harassment.
According to the report issued by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, 54% of people employed in the nightlife industry say that the lack of benefits often acts as a major hindrance in their careers of choice.
“I’ve never had insurance in my life, since I’ve been an adult, which is really frustrating…It’s scary, you don’t get to have a 401K to pay into or a pension to collect someday. You’re sort of in charge of your own world,” said Micaela Cimino, 35, a bartender at the Rookery with almost fifteen years of experience.
Income volatility or a lack of stable income also poses as a challenge for those employed in nightlife, with 49% of employees saying that the issue is prevalent in their line of work, which makes sense considering that tip earnings widely vary from day to day in most jobs within nightlife employment.
“My wage is pretty minimal. The tips can be amazing, but obviously it varies so much and seasonally as well… If it just rains for an entire week and no one comes out, that might put a bit of pressure on paying rent that month, which is a bit shitty,” said Sen Enver, 27, a bartender with over a decade of experience in both London and New York.
Even low wages can hinder nightlife employees, with 39% of people employed in nightlife considering it to be a major issue within the sector as well, with the average annual wage being $32,000 with no insurance. These economic issues often hinder people employed within the nightlife sector, so much so that it could skew potential plans as well as leave them in limbo.
However, one issue that the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment did not explore was the ubiquitous issue of workplace sexual harassment towards female employees in the nightlife sector, despite multiple attempts to contact the established office.
Samara Lugo, 25, recounted that she would often be sexually harassed by drunk clientele while doing shifts as a shot girl and bartender at Calico Jack’s Cantina. “A lot of times people would touch my lower back and put their arms around me, and you just have to entertain it and not be rude. Otherwise, you won’t make a sell,” she said.
Cimino has also had past experiences with sexual harassment, saying, “I’ve definitely had those days where I’m like ‘Oh, I wish we had a bouncer.’ or ‘Oh, I hate that this is the situation that I’m in right now. I don’t know how to get rid of this guy.’”
Despite having these experiences, however, women employed in the nightlife industry often feel relatively safe when those instances occur due to the sense of distance that employees have with their clientele. “[The harassment] doesn’t really bother me because I feel like I’m in control and the nice thing about working at the bar is that there is always a bar between you and people,” said Cimino.
Having bouncers, owners or other coworkers around during one’s shift can also allow for a safer and more comfortable environment for female employees, thus limiting instances of sexual harassment from occurring. “I was never made to feel super uncomfortable…if anyone ever made me feel really uncomfortable, the bouncers were always there,” said Lugo. “They would kick people out if I asked them to, no questions asked.”
“[The owners would give me] the liberty to be able to be like, ‘Hey, you can’t do that to me. Get out right now,’ which I’ve done,” said Enver.
However, despite the various cons associated with nightlife employment in general, there is one main thing that drives people to the profession: the art of socialization and people watching as well as the sense of variety encapsulated within it.
Lugo said, “I enjoyed getting to know people…and talking to the customers, because you feel like a superstar when they want to talk to you, they want to know your name, they want to give you money, they want you to make them a drink because they think you make the best drinks out of all the bartenders.”
“What I like the most about bartending is that every night is different. You have a whole new set of personalities, you meet really interesting and different people. I just love to meet new people and talk, so it’s a really cool job to have,” Cimino exclaimed.
How the Tables Have Turned
This audio report specifically talks how the evolution of club music from digital to vinyl and how DJs have dealt with this shift over the years.
Due to technical difficulties, the audio report cannot be uploaded onto WordPress. Instead, here is the audio report transcript down below:
Let’s Have a Kiki
This video report talks about the increased popularity of drag culture within the NYC nightlife industry thanks to one factor in particular: RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Here’s an accompanying news feature on the topic too!
Let’s Have a Kiki (News Feature)
New York City has always acted as a mecca for drag queen culture, as exhibited by the scene’s rich and illustrious history. However, the drag sect of the NYC nightlife industry has grown substantially in recent years and garnered mainstream popularity thanks to one factor in particular: RuPaul’s Drag Race.
According to them.us, the show’s viewership has increased three times as much between the season eight and season nine finale alone. That combined with the immense popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Convention, known as DragCon, hints at drag becoming more prevalent amongst mainstream audiences…and NYC drag queens have definitely noticed this shift within the nightlife sector.
Ducky Sheaboi, a Queens-based drag performer who has been doing shows in New York City for the last two and a half years, has noticed a transformation in the drag following in nightlife even over the course of this year, attributing it to increased viewership of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“In terms of people viewing drag, it’s almost annoying, because everybody has an opinion about it…it’s definitely mainstream now,” she said.
The growing mainstream prevalence of drag is not only apparent at gay bars or restaurants within nightlife, but also during brunch, with drag brunches in particular becoming more popular in recent years.
Nicole Onoscopi, a NYC drag queen who frequently performs at drag brunches at El Pulperia, has not only seen a shift within the drag scene in terms of popularity, but also in terms of the amount of straight people that go to drag shows.
“It’s a really great period for drag, where drag is for everybody. It used to be just celebrated in the LGBT community and now I go to my shows and half of the crowd is straight people,” she said.
Nicole Horn, a college senior in New York City, is one of many straight people that often immerses themselves in the city’s drag scene, doing everything from going to RuPaul’s DragCon every year to seeing drag shows all around the Big Apple whenever possible.
“I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday… than at a drag club enjoying the immense talent New York City has to offer,” said Horn.
This sharp transformation in both popularity and demographic makeup within the drag sect of NYC nightlife also showcases the level of respect and admiration both drag queens and spectators have for the craft.
“It’s a very good focus point on creativity, networking…you can really be your own…businesswoman with drag,” said Ducky Sheaboi.
“Drag is everything. Drag is no longer just gender performance. It’s the deconstruction of gender,” Nicole Onoscopi said. “You have women assigned male at birth now performing in drag, you have drag kings, you have gender-queer performers. It’s really refreshing. There are no rules anymore.”
“What I enjoy most about drag is how extravagant and exaggerated the art form is as an expansion upon of real life femininity. Drag can be subversive and provocative, yet other times campy and fun,” Horn said.
Hannah Kavanagh 