Monocle
Weekend Edition

At last New York has done away with an archaic law that prohibits dancing in bars. Though it may come as a surprise, bars in the city were once required to apply for a special licence to allow dancing within their walls. As the licences involved a lot of bureaucracy at city hall, 99 per cent of New York’s bars don’t have one. While this 91-year-old law is rarely enforced, there have been instances where businesses have been fined for allowing patrons to bump and grind on site – mostly when a disgruntled neighbour gets involved. But since city hall voted to scrap the law this week, New Yorkers can soon hit the town – and the dance floor – without worry.

As the Catalan crisis continues, hospitality heads in Barcelona are worried about the political situation stemming hotel stays. Some hoteliers have told us they’ve experienced a 20 to 30 per cent fall in reservations since the region held its independence referendum on 1 October and that they have raised their prices to offset the losses. Though many residents complain about the number of visitors who flock to the city in more peaceful times, tourism is a key driver of the economy. With the likes of the Edition brand and a Soho House beach club set to open next year the hospitality folk here will be hoping for fewer disruptions.

On Sunday morning Montréal residents take to the ballot box to elect a new mayor and one of the hotly contested issues this year has been the city’s inadequate metro system. One of the contenders, Valérie Plante from the Projet Montréal party, has proposed a quietly revolutionary solution. The centre-left candidate is pushing for the construction of a new Pink Line, which would connect the poorest and most densely populated districts to downtown where many are employed in vital service roles. Building a new subway line isn’t in itself radical but focusing on infrastructure that would literally bridge the gap between the wealthy and the poor could make a profound difference. The line would remove the need for stopovers and reduce transport time by up to an hour in many cases. However, the question remains whether voters will buy that Plante can see her plan out within the proposed CA$6bn (€4bn) budget.

It’s a good time for art enthusiasts to pay a call to Indonesia. For the first time, the nation’s three major contemporary-arts biennales – which take place in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Makassar – are running their festivals simultaneously so international attendees can hit up all of them in one visit. Those checking out the Jakarta Biennale, which opens this weekend, will also have the opportunity to tour the capital’s visual-arts institutions where its programmes are running. Don’t forget to add a stop to the city’s shiny new addition: Indonesia’s first modern-art museum, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara.

Monocle correspondent and author Michael Booth on his culinary adventures around Japan.

In an ode to summertime, Monocle films hits the road to sample artisanal ice-cream makers with a difference. In Denmark, Japan and Canada we meet the innovators challenging taste buds one scoop at a time.