About OutSmartNYC
OutSmartNYC works to make nightlife safer for all New Yorkers. We do this by preventing sexual violence in nightlife and entertainment spaces and promoting a nightlife culture where all New Yorkers are safe to connect and enjoy a night out. This includes nightlife venue training, ongoing education and technical assistance, event support, community organizing, and referrals to supportive services. OutSmartNYC is a collaborative effort between The Alliance and Crime Victims Treatment Center (CVTC) alongside nightlife community members.
OutSmartNYC program offerings are available to any nightlife venue in New York City. We deliver workshops in all five boroughs to managers, waitstaff, bartenders, security, promoters, event organizers, producers, and any staff working in the nightlife industry.
How We Work With Nightlife
Nightlife Venue Training:
Our free, venue-specific workshops include topics like sexual violence prevention, bystander intervention, recognizing and addressing identity-based harm, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and more. Each workshop is tailored specifically to the venue through a needs assessment prior to training and is co-facilitated by a nightlife community member and a consent educator/prevention expert. Training provides nightlife staff with the confidence and skills to intervene safely and effectively if they witness a concerning situation and educates them on how to create a culture of care for themselves and their colleagues.
Ongoing Education, Technical Assistance, and Tailored Support:
We create training that is tailored to specific audiences, addresses safety concerns of specific communities, and responds to emerging needs in the community. We also support owners and managers to strengthen their policies and procedures. Previous tailored support has focused on harm reduction, LGBTQIA+ inclusion and safety in nightlife, and resources on best practices for managers.
Event Support
OutSmartNYC provides on-site bystander intervention and crisis support at events of all sizes through easily identified Safety Advocates, who guests can reach out to if they are feeling uncomfortable or distressed in any way. Safety Advocates are a resource in addition to security and can refer to security when necessary. Safety Advocacy is a preventative measure to disincentivize people from causing harm as well as a response mechanism that can address harm that might occur at an event. Safety advocates are trained in bystander intervention, de-escalation, and trauma-informed responses to disclosures of sexual violence.
Community Organizing
The OutSmartNYC team hosts events for nightlife community members to gather and share insights on the state of the industry/trends related to sexual violence in nightlife spaces.
Referrals to Support Services
When needed, we connect nightlife community members to support services that are available to survivors of sexual & relationship violence and other violent crime.
Our Impact
In 2024, OutSmartNYC trained nearly 400 nightlife staff members across all five boroughs. Additionally, we provided safety advocacy at events that served over 10,000 patrons in total. We estimate that in one year, OutSmartNYC influences 60,000+ New Yorkers.
We see the impact of our work in feedback from nightlife workers who feel better equipped to respond to sexual violence after undergoing our training and in lowered rates of harm at venues that have instituted learnings from our trainings.
“At Elsewhere, we’re deeply committed to creating a community built on acceptance, inclusivity, and safety, and OutSmart’s training programs have empowered our staff with the knowledge and awareness necessary to ensure those values are upheld for all members of our community. The feedback about Outsmart’s trainings has been overwhelmingly positive, with many staff expressing that they feel more educated and confident in their ability to contribute to a safer venue. Our partnership with OutSmart has not only facilitated crucial dialogues about nightlife safety but has also had a lasting impact on our staff, providing them with valuable skills and insights applicable to their daily lives, both within and beyond the nightlife setting.”
– Stephanie Almache, General Manager at Elsewhere
Get Involved
Want to bring OutSmartNYC to your venue? Interested in joining us as a co-facilitator, consultant or collaborator? Reach out to the OutSmartNYC Team today.
For information on upcoming events, follow us on Instagram. You can also visit the OutSmartNYC website for more information about the program.
