City To Help Artists Get Their Piece of the Rock
WYNC is reporting that the city is setting up a $100 million fund to help artists purchase the spaces in which they live and work. In announcing the fund’s creation, City Housing Commissioner Sean Donovan noted that artists deserve to share in the wealth that their pioneering efforts create. “If we believe as I think…
WYNC is reporting that the city is setting up a $100 million fund to help artists purchase the spaces in which they live and work. In announcing the fund’s creation, City Housing Commissioner Sean Donovan noted that artists deserve to share in the wealth that their pioneering efforts create. “If we believe as I think many of us do, that artists not just need affordable housing, but actually create real estate value, what we’re trying to do is create a fund that would actually leverage some of that, bring in investment dollars to follow artists, and allow them, for reduced prices, to buy their space.” Remember the discussion we had about the fate of the artists on South 11th Street?
$100 Million Fund for Artist Housing [WNYC]
I’m the poster of 8:17PM. To clarify: no, the current loft law was not what I was talking about. This was a separate program. I’m not sure if it’s still in existence; haven’t heard of it for quite a while. I was simply echoing previous posts questioning how the city would go about deciding who was an ‘artist’ and who was not.
The loft law does not provide grants to any artists, just to clarify for the above poster.
What really bothers me about all of these “discussions” about ‘artists and housing’ versus ‘everyone else and housing’ is that there seems to be a feeling that if an artist is helped in any way it must mean that someone else has been deprived. I hardly think that’s the case.
Back in the mid eighties I was an artist (or thought I was) – I designed scenery for the theatre. The city had a live/work loft program for artists, and I filled out an application complete with slides, recommendations, financial data, etc. After six months, I got a letter back from NYC that said basically, “We’ve reviewed your application and we’re not sure what you do, but you’re not a fine artist, and you’re not a performing artist, so therefore you must be a commercial artist, which is the only definition of ‘artist’ we have left, and commercial artists don’t qualify for assistance under the loft law, so you’re outta luck.” I sent a copy of the letter to one of my ex-teachers who had contacts in the then-mayoral administration. He rattled cages, and NYC decided I was a fine artist after all, so I was entitled to a subsidized rent in a rehabbed loft. But it took a few years for them to reach that conclusion, and meanwhile I’d decided I didn’t like living on $250 a week (while I was working – and since I was freelancing, that wasn’t all the time). So by time I got the city’s revised verdict, I had switched to designing highly remunerative ads for toothpaste and toilet paper, graduated from law school, and bought a brownstone in Clinton Hill. And now my living expenses are low enough that I can afford to practice law part time and do art for art’s sake. Moral of story: you gotta do what you gotta do, but don’t hold your breath waiting for the city to decide you’re an artist.
I’m an artist who sold out so I can earn some money. I don’t do much art these days, but I live a comfortable enough life. It bothers me that I no longer have time for it. It’s pretty difficult to create art and survive in this city. The difference with teachers, cops, etc is that they HAVE jobs. If an artist is working, that doesn’t leave much time to create. I’m not talking about trust funds. Yes, there absolutely should be affordable housing for everyone, but before you go bashing artists, try living for 1 day without music, books, museums, theater, film, computer graphics, tv……
“artist” add creativity and ingenuity to an area. They are generally not afraid to live,play, eat with poor people and people of color. They in effect lay the foundation for Yups, Bups, etc. to feel that an area is OK to live in. That has to be worth something.
They just got to figure out a way to capitilize on that added value they help create.
What can I say Miguel. Every system designed for public good has loop-holes that can be exploited by con-artists. The real estate business is filled with con-artists. So it makes sense that eventually the two would meet.
I guess it also depends on which circles you travel in.
The artists that I’ve met were dirt poor. I hope your trust fund friends have a conscience, at least.
Artists don’t create real estate value, the yuppies that follow them do. Prior to the arrival of the yuppies, the lofts weren’t worth an ounce of horse puckey.
BTW, I’m a Con Artist. May I apply?
Yuk, yuk, yuk. Will youse marry me?
Anon at 6:03pm, You must not know too many trust fund artists. I do. And the money is not sitting in their bank account. It’s either in a trust, which would not even need to be mentioned on an application, or it’s coming directly from Mommy & Daddy. They’d all qualify because they can show “need”. It’s not like they’re living on big salaries.
I contribute a healthy amount of money to arts institutions and individual artists. But, the last thing I want is the govt engaging in even more income redistribution than they already perform, because they are not at all good at it.
I just think that there’s this unexamined cliche that “artists create real estate value,” which may be somewhat true, but do artists create more real estate value than teachers or poets or d.j.s or upstart designers or….?!? It just strikes me as arbitrary.