Rafael Espinal, the former City Councilmember who signed the death certificate on New York’s 91-year-old Cabaret Law at Bushwick venue Elsewhere in 2017, is returning to city government as Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the appointment Sunday, tapping the 41-year-old Freelancers Union president to oversee the city agency responsible for film permits, the Office of Nightlife, and NYC’s $150 billion creative economy. The appointment brings full circle a career that began in Brooklyn politics and became nationally significant through worker protections and cultural policy.
“You cannot tell the story of New York without the artists who have shaped it,” Mayor Mamdani said at the announcement, flanked by representatives from SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, and the Writers Guild. “Yet, the cost-of-living crisis is driving creatives out of our city. That is a loss we cannot afford.”
A Bushwick Story
Bushwick Daily has covered Espinal’s trajectory for nearly a decade. In our 2019 profile “The Bear and the Unicorn,” we described the then-35-year-old councilman as sporting “tattoos of Strokes lyrics and a Jean-Michel Basquiat quote” while counting “Requiem for a Dream” director Darren Aronofsky among his supporters. The profile captured a politician who bridged the gap between Brooklyn’s creative class and City Hall.
That bridge-building defined his council tenure. In November 2017, we covered Mayor de Blasio’s trip to Elsewhere to sign the Cabaret Law repeal, legislation Espinal authored. The antiquated law, originally passed in 1926, had been used for decades to restrict dancing in bars and had disproportionately targeted LGBTQ+ venues and minority-owned establishments. Its repeal freed thousands of venues, including countless Bushwick bars and DIY spaces, to offer entertainment without a special license.
Just two months earlier, we reported from House of Yes when de Blasio announced the creation of America’s first Office of Nightlife, another Espinal initiative. The new agency would support DIY art spaces, music venues, and restaurants, complete with a “Night Mayor” position.
“The Cabaret Law repeal and Office of Nightlife creation happened in Bushwick for a reason,” Espinal said in a 2018 interview with Bushwick Daily. “This neighborhood understands what’s at stake when we don’t protect creative spaces.”
From City Council to National Stage
Born in Woodhull Hospital to Dominican immigrant parents and raised in Cypress Hills, Espinal became New York’s youngest elected official when he won a State Assembly seat at age 26 in 2011. He represented City Council District 37, covering Cypress Hills, East New York, Ocean Hill, Brownsville, and parts of Bushwick—from 2014 until his resignation in January 2020.
During that time, he co-sponsored the landmark Freelance Isn’t Free Act, signed in 2016, which became the world’s first comprehensive legal protection for independent workers against nonpayment. The law has since expanded to New York State, Illinois, and California, recovering $2.5 million in unpaid fees for over 700 workers between 2017 and 2021.
After launching campaigns for Public Advocate and Brooklyn Borough President, Espinal left elected office to lead the Freelancers Union, where he’s spent the last six years advocating for the 1.3 million New Yorkers, 34% of the city’s workforce, who work independently.
What This Means for Bushwick
As MOME Commissioner, Espinal will oversee five divisions: the Film Office, NYC Media (the city’s broadcast network), the Office of Nightlife, the Press Credentials Office, and workforce development programs. The agency operates on a $4.4 million budget to support an industry generating $82-104 billion in economic output annually.
For Bushwick’s creative community, the appointment signals continuity in pro-nightlife policy at the city level. The neighborhood’s venues, from Elsewhere to House of Yes to Mood Ring to countless apartment DIY spaces, have benefited directly from legislation Espinal championed.
“I’m honored to join Mayor Mamdani’s administration and lead the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment,” Espinal said. “New York City’s artists, creatives, and freelancers have made New York City into what it is today—if we want to keep our city’s culture, it is critical that they can afford to live and work here.”
His stated goal represents a shift from traditional film office priorities: rather than focusing solely on attracting productions, Espinal wants MOME to ensure “the people who work on those shoots can make the best possible wage under the most optimal conditions.”
Espinal will report to Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su, who called MOME essential to “grow industries that make this city vibrant, that reflect its beauty and creativity, and that bring good union jobs to New York City.”
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Our Past Coverage:
- Rafael Espinal: the Bear and the Unicorn – February 2019
- Mayor de Blasio Officially Repealed the Cabaret Law at an Event in Bushwick – November 2017
- Last Night Mayor de Blasio Created an Office of Nightlife at House of Yes – September 2017
- Plastic Straws, Bushwick Zoning and a Path into Politics: A Conversation with City Councilman Rafael – May 2018
- Bushwick Venues Will Say Goodbye to Cabaret Law and Start Dancing After Tuesday – October 2017
- Espinal’s Historic Campaign & Why the Special Election for NYC Public Advocate Matters for Bushwick – December 2018
