THE ARTS
Manzano invited Nilko Guarin,
a student at the Manhatan School of Arts, to play classical
masterpieces
and to share his experiences as an artist at the McManus
Democratic Association meeting.
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For more than 70 years, New York City has been the center of the arts world,
in talent, in institutions, and in the sheer variety of offerings on display.
Artists come from all over the world to live and work here, and to be inspired.
As New Yorkers at the center of the arts nexus, we are pioneers in the world.
Unfortunately, our city is in danger of losing its artistic edge. While
there is no shortage of arts patrons, the actual artists and performers can
rarely afford to live in Manhattan nowadays. Increasingly, they are forced
to choose other boroughs and other cities where the cost of living is lower.
Manhattan should not allow high rents to drive out the very people the rest
of the world comes to hear and see.
The arts provide us with incomparable vitality, and they are the legacy
we leave our country for the future. We must insist that New York remain
a friendly place for artists to live and work.
As your Borough President I will advocate and work in the following areas:
Affordability of Cultural Institutions and Performances
It is sad that we are no longer shocked by the $20 entry to a museum, or
a $100 ticket to see a Broadway show. As Manhattan Borough President, I
will work with the various city arts councils and institutions to try to
create programs that expand discounted hours, performances, or memberships.
My office will also undertake an initiative to promote Off- and Off-Off-Broadway
theatre and concerts to tourists.
Funding
The Borough President's office allocates part of its discretionary budget
to major art institutions. While I will continue to support these efforts,
as Borough President, I will examine ways to redistribute that funding
in order to support smaller artistic venues and encourage new talent to
emerge.
Recent proposed cuts to the Department of Cultural Affairs underscore the
vulnerability of our homegrown music, dance, theatre, opera, art, and other
cultural institutions. While it may be necessary in times of fiscal crisis
to review where cuts may take place in any part of the city’s budget,
the baseline of arts funding should not be egregiously lowered.
Arts Education
With education budgets always a concern, maintaining arts education does
not always remain a high priority in our public schools. Through my public/private
initiative I may propose a volunteer program of rotating artists to conduct
regular education and performance programs in our classrooms. Art is the
legacy a culture leaves behind, and we must encourage our children’s
creativity.
Cost of Living
As Manhattan Borough President, I will commission a report to examine the
influx and outflow of artists to our borough and how we may try to maintain
a demographic that includes those that make their living creatively, through
affordable housing, performance spaces, and more.
