Mayor Mamdani Appoints Eric Thor to Lead NYC’s Office of Nightlife

 

Longtime community organizer will work with nightlife workers, small businesses and neighborhood establishments across all five boroughs 

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced the appointment of Eric Thor as Executive Director of the Office of Nightlife, which operates within the Department of Small Business Services (SBS). 

 

Thor will lead the City’s efforts to support the workers, small businesses and communities that make New York’s nightlife possible, from DJs and bartenders to security staff, promoters and venue owners. Thor will begin meeting with workers, business owners, and community members across all five boroughs to help shape the office’s priorities. 

 

His agenda will focus on improving conditions for nightlife workers, streamlining the permitting process for small events and strengthening the Coordinating a United Resolution with Establishments (CURE) program. 

 

“New Yorkers work hard all week, and being able to afford a night out with friends is part of what makes this city worth living in,” said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani. “Nightlife is more than entertainment. It’s good jobs, a lifeline for small businesses and what makes New York City the best place in the world to be out after 10 p.m. The workers and business owners who keep it going are left to navigate a bureaucracy that makes their jobs harder. Eric has spent years organizing alongside working people, and he will bring that same commitment building a nightlife economy that works for everyone.” 

 

“I want every New Yorker to be able to afford a good night out after a long week, and every nightlife worker to have a fair, safe job,” said Eric Thor. “Nightlife is for everyone, from clubs to queer spaces to immigrant-run venues. A good night out should work for the people who organize it, the people who work it and the people who come to dance. It should be easy to start one in this city, not just for people who can afford lawyers.” 

 

“New York City’s bars, nightclubs and nightlife venues are an integral part of our city’s small business ecosystem, employing thousands of New Yorkers and generating more than $30 billion in economic activity across all five boroughs,” said SBS Commissioner Kenny Minaya. “The Office of Nightlife at SBS connects those businesses with free resources and services, from NYC BEST to commercial lease assistance to affordable financing, while simultaneously fostering positive relationships with neighborhoods and communities through MEND and CURE. I am thrilled to welcome Executive Director Eric Thor to SBS and am excited to continue the work of maintaining New York City’s position as the premier nightlife capital of the world.” 

Thor lives in Astoria, Queens. He previously served as lead developer for LaborLab, where he built a searchable database connecting filings from the National Labor Relations Board and Office of Labor-Management Standards. He also spent 10 years building websites for Wine Spectator and has been active in community and electoral organizing with the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.