NYC names ex-NYPD detective as new nightlife mayor

Jeffrey Garcia has been appointed as New York City's new executive director of nightlife.

In a recent announcement, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that Garcia would be taking over the post, which was previously occupied for five years by former Sutra Lounge owner Ariel Palitz.

According to a press release from the Mayor's Office,Garcia is a Bronx restauranteur, an ex-NYPD detective working for the Organized Crime Control Bureau, as well as the president of the New York State Latino Restaurant, Bar, and Lounge Association. He is also a member of the New York City Small Business Advisory Council, a New York City Hospitality Alliance board member, and helped create the Latino Cannabis Association.

Garcia will be the second person to fill the role, which was created by the DeBlasio administration in 2018. As NYC's nightlife mayor, he acts as "a central point of contact among the nightlife industry, community, and City agencies," with the goal of helping to "ensure a more vibrant, viable, safe, fair, and well managed nightlife environment in New York City."

His appointment comes right after Adams announced significant cuts to the municipal budget, which will allegedly include a hiring freeze, per sources spearking to Politico.

The FADER has reached out to the NYC Mayor's Office for further clarification.