ALBANY — To improve its cultural, entertainment and dining scenes for residents and visitors, the city’s government, businesses and organizations should implement broad changes including streamlined permitting, increased safety and transportation, better services for the homeless and coordination of branding, events and promotions, according to an expansive new report that does not say how much of it would be paid for.
The 84-page document, released Thursday, contains more than 20 recommendations from the city’s Advisory Council on Nightlife Economy, established in early January as the first formal action by Mayor Dorcey Applyrs as part of her campaign to “turn the lights back on in Albany.” The 31-member committee, including six co-chairs, met regularly over eight months, as a group and as five smaller committees that covered process and procedure, public safety, experiences, marketing, economic impact, talent retention and resources and opportunities. The volunteer council members represent bars, restaurants, entertainment companies and retailers, as well as work in government positions. They were coordinated by Sean Millington, the city’s first mayoral fellow, who said the ACNE council occupied the equivalent of three days a week for him.
“These recommendations are not simply about restaurants, entertainment venues, events, or late-night activity,” Applyrs wrote in her introduction to the report, which was formally announced at a news conference Thursday afternoon outside the new Herbie’s Burgers on Lark Street…