Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Are we Jamaicans are what?

You never know you have a good thing until you lose it. That is for real. I’m from the Bronx, New York so I get to see first hand what is happening there, and in one aspect it does not look too good. For instant, these names, Wild Palm, Act Three, Black Theater, Club Deep, are just a few of the hot spots you would be heading to for a good party. But these venues do not operate anymore, for whatever reasons they are. The names that exist now are El Rancho, El Templo, La Alcoba, (wait a minute, are we Spanish or Jamaican?).
That clearly tells you what is happening to our venues in the Bronx; they are now all owned and operated by Hispanics. Now get this clear I have nothing against Spanish people, I am just asking where are the English named venues? I know, they are all gone, (only from the Bronx that is). Check out Brooklyn and Queens, Tropical Reflections; Club Amazura, Club XO, C-Pac, just to name a few of the many that is available for use. One might wonder what is really going on with the Bronx why can't we keep our nightclubs open? Well as Michael Jackson said "I’m starting with man in the mirror". We are the ones that are doing this to ourselves. We do not follow the rules. What rules is this guy talking about? The one rule that will do for a successful party atmosphere, is coming out to a party early.
Just look at this for a minute, the law states that all parties "must" be over by 4am, so if you start your party at 2am it only works out for the promoter that is responsible for the gate and not the bar. But if you are a promoter who rents a venue totally (bar and door), he or she will have to sell a certain amount of liquor and food in order to cover cost and make a profit. So tell me how much can you eat and drink in just 2 hours? Now if I am a promoter and I can’t cover my cost and make a profit, I wont be keeping any more parties, so big venues wont be making any money, then they will be closing shop soon. Then there is the patron who came out to listen to his favorite tunes. He is just "feeling di vibes" and ready to party, by that time the security comes and say that's the last song will be playing. Now after just drinking two or three cups of Henny and Redbull and didn't get to "ketch a vibes", somebody accidentally stepped on his brand new timbs that he wore for first time. Now that is a recipe for a fight, and you know that once there is a fight, the cops "tek set pon di place".
I am not saying that these things do not happen at other venues, but the frequency plays a vital role in anybody's decision making. We need to start thinking real hard if we want to be able to still go to a party and feel good after it's over, or do we prefer to be frustrated at the end of the night. I love parties and I don’t want to have to travel twenty miles to the nearest Jamaican spot and I know I am not the only one who feels that way. So from now on, whenever we get another club with a real "English" name let us not be stupid and *?#$ up every good venue we have. "Fire deh a mus mus tail, him tink a cool breeze", and that is my last word for now.

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