The New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and Office of Nightlife (ONL) on Nov. 24 announced the recipients of their first-ever NYC nightlife grants at the Brooklyn-based Queer Nightlife Community Center (QNCC), which was among the awardees. These grants, totaling $350,000, were awarded to multiple nonprofit organizations to promote neighborhood development and the local nightlife economy.
NYC SBS Commissioner Dynishal Gross and ONL executive director Jeff Garcia announced the grants, which award recipients up to $40,000 in an effort to strengthen NYC’s nightlife industry. The nightlife funding was steered to a dozen different organizations, including Alice Austen House in Staten Island, and the New York City Anti-Violence Project.
These grants were distributed through SBS’s Neighborhood 360° initiative, launched in 2016, which uses community-driven assessments by local stakeholders to help revitalize commercial corridors and support small businesses and local organizations. Both of these grant programs have built on SBS’s previous neighborhood investment tactics, which total around $47 million given to organizations to promote small business and community development.
“New York City’s legendary nightlife industry is a cultural and economic engine that generates more than $35 billion annually for our city while attracting tourists and talent from around the world,” Commissioner Gross said in a writte statement. “Ensuring that our neighborhoods and commercial corridors are safe, clean, and livable is key to the continued success of not just our clubs, bars, and restaurants, but of NYC as a whole.”
Projects funded by these grants must be completed by June 30, 2026, to develop relationships, partnerships, and a community that extends beyond the grant. The grant recipients are expected to foster increased cultural visibility and recognition in the nightlife industry, boost foot traffic, and improve operations.
“We are so grateful for this support and the leadership of the Office of Nightlife and the Department of Small Business Services,” Michael Falco-Felderman, the executive director of QNCC, said in a written statement. “This grant comes at a critical time in our organization’s development and helps us deliver essential support to nightlife workers and the surrounding community, so they can have healthy, sustained careers in the city’s defining industry.”
