Mamdani names ex-DSA co-chair Eric Thor as NYC's new nightlife director

Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday named Eric Thor, a web developer and former co-chair of the city's Democratic Socialists of America chapter, as executive director of the Office of Nightlife, the city agency that works with bars, clubs, venues and nightlife workers, City Hall announced.

Thor, who lives in Astoria, succeeds Jeffrey Garcia, a former NYPD detective and hospitality-industry veteran appointed by Mayor Eric Adams in November 2023, amNewYork reported. He is expected to start in the coming weeks, according to PAPER magazine, which first reported the appointment.

What he says he'll focus on

• Workers: improving conditions for the DJs, bartenders, security staff and promoters who keep nightlife running, including freelancers juggling several jobs.
• Permits: making it simpler to get permits for small events. Thor said starting one "should be easy" in this city, "not just for people who can afford lawyers," according to the mayor's office.
• Noise and neighbor disputes: strengthening CURE (Coordinating a United Resolution with Establishments), the program that tries to settle complaints about nightlife businesses before enforcement. CURE received 175 NYPD referrals in 2025, which led to 85 meetings with venues and 26 police inspections, amNY reported, citing the office's May annual report.
• Affordability: "I want every New Yorker to be able to afford a good night out after a long week," Thor said in the city's announcement.

City Hall said Thor will begin by meeting workers, owners and residents in all five boroughs to shape the office's priorities. The office's last annual report recommended easing permits for temporary cultural events, exploring 24-hour activity districts and encouraging cooperatively owned venues, amNY reported.

Who he is

Thor was NYC-DSA co-chair from 2023 to 2024 and has known Mamdani since 2019, when both organized for Tiffany Cabán's run for Queens district attorney, according to amNY. He built the website for Mamdani's first Assembly campaign in 2020 for free and later created the "Zohran Savings Calculator" used in the 2025 mayoral race. City Hall said he was lead developer at LaborLab, where he built a database of federal labor filings, and spent 10 years building websites for Wine Spectator.

His online résumé lists no nightlife-industry jobs, Gothamist reported; PAPER describes him as a regular at clubs and DIY warehouse parties in East Williamsburg and Bushwick. His predecessors came from the business side: Garcia owned venues in Washington Heights and the Bronx, and Ariel Palitz, the city's first nightlife director in 2018, had owned a Lower East Side club, amNY noted.

The industry's reaction

Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance and chair of the Office of Nightlife's advisory board, told Gothamist the pick came as a surprise. "It's strikingly bizarre that they wouldn't reach out to the Office of Nightlife Advisory Board," he said.

Supporters in the announcement included Council Member Chi Ossé, Rep.-elect Claire Valdez and Michael Falco of the Queer Nightlife Community Center. The Small Business Services commissioner, Kenny Minaya, said the city's bars, clubs and venues generate more than $30 billion in economic activity; PAPER put the industry at nearly 300,000 jobs and $35.1 billion in economic impact.

Background: the Office of Nightlife was created in 2017 as a go-between for nightlife businesses, workers, residents and city agencies, and moved into the Department of Small Business Services in 2023.