NYC Club Has Banned Cell Phones To Get More People On The Dance Floor And I Love The Move

NY Post- They want to get people off their phones and on the dance floor.

The Palace, a sceney lounge and night club in Soho that draws a fashionable crowd in their 20’s and 30’s, will forbid guests from using their phones starting Thursday. Owner Ben Robertshaw told The Post that the new rule intends to promote privacy and more socializing on the dance floor — the club is known for its DJs and bringing in big names such as Diplo and Kelis.

“We want to make sure people really enjoy living in the moment,” said Robertshaw, 37. “People are worried or anxious [about] documenting the moment rather than experiencing it.” He has invested around $10,000 in hundreds of Yondr phone-free pouches, which are often used at comedy shows to ensure that jokesters’ sets aren’t recorded via smartphone before they appear on Netflix or Max. To enter into The Palace, guests will have to place their phones inside a pouch. A bouncer will then lock the pouch and return it to guests to carry around. It will be unlocked when they exit.

What a move. You don't see people bucking a trend or going against the grain like this in 2024, but hats off to this club for what can only be called a great move. Somewhere along the line we got super reliant on cell phones. Now I know they are necessary to do literally everything in the world, but there should still be some activities or events where we can put them away for an hour and not be itching out our eyeballs in withdrawals, yet almost everyone does. We can't put the stupid things down. Nightclubs, bars, dinners … no one is ever satisfied being with the people they are with at that time. 

Shoutout to this club for making the right decision to get people interacting and talking and dancing instead of staring down their phones. Dance floors at clubs is where the unpredictable becomes the norm. You can walk out there without a shot in the world and the next thing you know boom your sucking face with an 8 from Hazlet NJ who's uncle may be able to get you a cushy job in finance. You can walk on a dance floor and be rejected 32 times but that 33rd turns out to be the one. Anything is possible on a dance floor and we need more people on them and less refreshing The Gram. Absolutely love this move. Need more of it.