In my little corner of the NY performing arts community there has been much consternation over an article, which finally appeared in yesterday’s NY Times. The article exposes to the general public (or at least to the general public which includes readers of the Times Arts Section) that NYC’s massive capital boom ate a few arts organizations alive, and those same organizations are struggling with large burdens of debt. As someone who has intimate knowledge of these organizations and projects, I only wish that the article had gone further to implicate the lack of foresight on behalf of the City and show more clearly how it dangled the carrot of “a permanent home” in front of eviction-weary arts organizations that none dared refuse. Perhaps it can all be blamed on misguided expectations from both sides: arts organizations expecting the City to assist them with these new ventures more thoroughly, and the City expecting the arts organizations to have more infrastructure in place. Indeed, the arts organizations had some naivete working against them, but for the City to claim no culpability here is truly infuriating. In these cases, as with so many in this economic disaster, we are all responsible, and we must all work together to find solutions, or risk losing important pieces of our culture.
According to the article DNA pays 60k in rent per month.
I would ask this. I have seen DNA. What in the world would make them think that they could afford 60k a month in rent? I wouldn’t put that on the govt!
Well, I will answer this: DNA pays that rent to the City’s Department of Buildings, who is their landlord.