The NYC Council introduces new rules for bars and clubs

The New York City Council will convene the first-ever "nightlife summit" today at John Jay College, a day after introducing a slew of bills aimed at improving safety at bars and nightclubs. "The point of [the summit] is to come up with best practices for this industry and come up with additional ideas and suggestions for how we can combat this problem and not crack down on the entirety of the industry," Council spokeswoman Christine Quinn said yesterday to NYPost.

Yesterday, the City Council introduced new set of bills that would require bars and clubs to: 1) Install ID verification scanners and security cameras at all club entrances. 2) Employees would have to undergo safety training and 3) Nightclubs would be forced to hire independent monitors at their expense if laws are repeatedly broken.

Other issues that will be discussed at the summit include changing the current law that allows 16-year-olds to enter nightclubs, and banning bottle service, a trend that requires patrons to buy a minimum amount of liquor to get a seat or table at a club.

Earlier this month, The Council passed a bill requiring tougher background checks and licensing requirement for bouncers, which was in response to the murders of grad student Imette St. Guillen and NJ resident Jennifer Moore.