NEW YORK (June 4th, 2024) — Officials from each borough of New York City have come together in an impressive effort to ask Mayor Eric Adams to fully restore and baseline $53 million in funding for cultural institutions and programs in the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget. See below for a transcript of the letter signed by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, and Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson.
“Dear Mayor Adams,
In solidarity with the 34 members of the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) and the thousands of arts programs across our city, we encourage you to reverse the budget cuts to culture and to restore and baseline $53 million in funding for cultural institutions and programs in the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget. We recognize that you restored some funding in the Executive Budget, but this falls far short of what is needed to make the arts and culture sector whole. Baselining would constitute an impactful investment in the future of our city not seen since Mayor Bloomberg last increased the arts and culture baseline in 2013 – more than a decade ago.
New York City is the best city in the world. We have earned that status in part because of the thousands of creatives and artists who make New York City home and the vast diversity of cultural institutions and programs based here. New York City’s long-standing commitment to funding the arts has fostered the growth of our artistic community, maintained our world class cultural institutions, and sustained a broad array of public art and cultural programs that reaches into every corner of our city. Cutting culture funding has direct and immediate negative effects on our city and threatens the standing of our world-leading cultural institutions.
New York’s cultural economy generates approximately $110 billion in economic activity annually. The sector is a major employer; the CIG institutions alone employ about 15,700 full and part-time staff, 5,800 of whom are union members. Thousands more New Yorkers – educators, artists, and other professionals – are engaged with the institutions on a per diem basis. Organizations supported through the Cultural Development Fund (CDF) directly employ thousands more New Yorkers. Jobs in the cultural sector are family-sustaining jobs paying a living wage, but the budget cuts have dealt a blow to this workforce. Some examples include:
On Staten Island, Historic Richmond Town reduced its full-time staff by 13 percent.
In The Bronx, the New York Botanical Garden imposed a hiring freeze, leaving 55 jobs vacant.
In Brooklyn, Weeksville Heritage Center has eliminated 20% of its full-time positions and cut staff hours in maintenance, security, marketing, education, and programs.
In Queens, the Queens Botanical Garden laid off two of four staff working on the NYC Compost Project and instituted furloughs for all 37 full-time staff – union and non-union – reducing the work week by 20% to four days per week from January 1 through March 31.
In Manhattan, New York City Center will employ fewer artists in the 2024-25 season as programming is reduced.
Culture is more than just an economic engine; it is the heartbeat of this city. Our arts and cultural institutions are a lifeline for New Yorkers in neighborhoods across this city. They make our communities stronger and more livable by providing safe, peaceful public spaces and enriching programs and experiences that bind New Yorkers together and to this city. Public art includes theaters, botanical gardens, zoos, museums, and performing arts venues that are mission-bound to serve New Yorkers. The CIGs and cultural programs offer New Yorkers an incredible array of programs including free and discounted admission, career development and internships, education programs, teacher training, scientific research, and heritage celebrations. Budget cuts are cuts to these programs and public access. Some examples include:
On Staten Island, the Staten Island Museum closed its doors in January and has put all community projects on hold. The Zoo reduced its animal collection. Snug Harbor scaled back its education programs and has delayed exhibition programming in the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art until the fall.
In Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden shuttered a planned workforce development program that would bring young people into public horticulture and canceled accessibility programs for people with disabilities. The Brooklyn Academy of Music scaled back its programs leaving a reduced calendar of concerts and shows, the Brooklyn Museum reduced education public programs, and Weeksville reduced historic house tours for school groups and the general public.
In Queens, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning cut the eighth annual Queens International Children’s Festival from a weekend to a Saturday, delayed its annual Downtown Jamaica Jazz Festival Festival to FY25, postponed Widows and Warriors, a new play about Betty Shabazz and Coretta Scott King, and canceled the annual Jamaica Mic Drop series. Queens Theater eliminated free student matinee performances and canceled the annual Latin Dance & Culture Fiesta. Queens Botanical Garden eliminated 102 workshops or events and reduced free public programs that celebrate the diversity of Queens and New York City.
In Manhattan, the Museum of the City of New York cut its hours which include the elimination of late-night hours on Thursdays and most of its CTLE-credit professional development programs for New York City educators. Carnegie Hall has canceled its free citywide concert.
In The Bronx, the Bronx County Historical Society dramatically pared back weekend and evening programming, which had reached an all-time peak in FY23. Wave Hill cut programming for public schools and reduced paid STEM-based environmental internships for Bronx youth.
It is imperative to recognize the incredible value our cultural institutions provide and to stand by them at this pivotal moment. The CIG institutions rely on the city for support, which has not increased since 2009 despite the growth in the city’s budget. The cuts have already resulted in CIG institutions and cultural programs facing a multitude of disruptions that affect jobs, programs, hours, and operations within their institutions. The collective impact of the mid-year cuts threatens permanent job losses, reductions in economic activity, and curtailment of public programs and access.
A flourishing and sustainable cultural sector is the foundation for providing economic opportunities and creating a more inclusive, accessible, and ultimately safer New York City for all. We urge the city to restore all cuts to culture and to baseline $53 million in Fiscal Year 2025 for the Cultural Institutions Group and Cultural Development Fund programs throughout our city.”
