New York City Cabaret Card

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From Prohibition until 1960, a permit called the New York City Cabaret Identification Card was required of all workers, including performers, in New York City nightclubs. Their administration was fraught with politics, and some artists' cards were revoked on specious grounds. Those of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Elmo Hope, and Billie Holiday were suspended due to drug charges, and that of Lenny Bruce for his reputed obscenity. J.J. Johnson challenged the withholding of his card at the New York State Supreme Court in May of 1959 and won the issue of a permanently valid card.

In 1960 Lord Buckley died soon after his card was seized under mysterious circumstances. The ensuing scandal led to the abolition of the cabaret card system. Following the seizure of Buckley's card, Harold L. Humes convened in George Plimpton's apartment a "Citizens' Emergency Committee" which included Norman Mailer, David Amram, and Norman Podhoretz. Humes and Maxwell T. Cohen, Buckley's lawyer, confronted Police Commissioner Stephen Kennedy at a raucous hearing. Although Lord Buckley died before the second hearing, Commissioner Kennedy left office and the card system was abolished.

[edit] External links

• A Lord Buckley chronology detailing the events of 1960
• Review of "The Musical World Of J.J. Johnson"

[edit] Bibliography

Trager, Oliver. Dig Infinity: The Life and Art of Lord Buckley, Welcome Rain Publishers LLC, New York City, 2001.