Law Looks to Subsidize Housing for Artists
Governor Spitzer signed a bill yesterday aimed at helping artists pay for housing, a measure meant to shore up the city’s cultural capital. The bill, which was sponsored by Assemblywoman Joan Millman, will give artists two-year grants of up to $12,000 for live-work spaces. “When people want to make it in the arts they come…
Governor Spitzer signed a bill yesterday aimed at helping artists pay for housing, a measure meant to shore up the city’s cultural capital. The bill, which was sponsored by Assemblywoman Joan Millman, will give artists two-year grants of up to $12,000 for live-work spaces. “When people want to make it in the arts they come to New York,” said Millman. “Artists come into communities that are rundown and sleazy and bring a life and vibrancy to that community—they are an economic engine and they shouldn’t be overlooked.” Though funding for the program has yet to be hammered out, it will likely provide grants for between 40 and 50 units, and Dumbo is being eyed as a possible location for the housing. As New York continues to hemorrhage artists to cheaper cities like Philly, you gotta wonder whether a bill like this is too little too late. And does it make sense to import artists back into nabes, like Dumbo, that they had a big hand in gentrifying?
Housing Help Slated for Artists [AM New York]
Photo by Escapefromnewyork
How does a $12,000 subsidy help anyone move into a space in DUMBO? Artist, teacher, cop, waitress, illegal immigrant, welfare mother, whatever – $12,000 buys maybe 2 or 3 months’ rent or maybe a fraction of the closing costs on a condo. What is this $12,000 supposed to do?
11:22….u sold me. Good job.
LOOK: there are industries which are neccessary or at least beneficial to a community or other entity, be it on a corporate, city, state, federal or global level and sometimes they get hand outs from the government.
So here are a few examples:
Take, for instance, the airline industry. They’re constantly getting bailed out of one thing or another. Without them, we would all lose our infrastructure, so the government keeps bailing them out.
Or look at Corbis (speaking of visual arts and commerce). They’ve never been profitable, but they’re supported by Mr. Bill (Gates) and his many profitable enterprises, such as developing evil, crappy software which will some day show Corbis-licensed photos on your digital walls or that stupid multi-touch coffee table thing they made. Where do you think they got that stupid landscape image on every Windows PC desktop?
Or look at Calvin Klein – you think the main fashion line and the huge extravigant fashion shows make a profit and support the company? Nope, they just serve to make the brand “cool”. It’s really the cheap, crappy, fall-apart underwear that supports the company (which is pretty much the only thing that underwear supports)…
OK so to put it in “business” terms, think of the artists in NYC as the “ancillary products” which don’t really make a profit on their own, but enrich the larger, main “product” (NYC as a culture, media, commerce and social center and generally a very crowded place).
It’s like McDonald’s hamburgers – they don’t make a profit off those dollar menu hamburgers but they sure make a killing in franchise fees and happy meal toys (probably made in China with lead paint, I’m sure).
So I guess what I’m saying is that those artists are Hamburgers and maybe you see them as worthless and not a very good investment and they make you fat and give you heart attacks and take a lot of energy and cost to transport, store and prepare, but they sure give you an excuse to get those kids in to buy the crappy Transformers toys or whatever crap they’re cross-marketing with whatever crappy Michael Bay movie, which makes your kids pester you to go see said crappy movie which you end up shelling out $30 to see. So in the end it’s a pretty good deal for both McDonald’s and for Mr. Bay.
See what I mean – the artists make NYC a “cool” place to live so after tons of high school kids in Arkansas see TRL on MTV they come to NYC for college with mom and dad’s credit card and end up staying and work for peanuts for MTV for next to nothing because it’s so “cool” which leads to more kids coming which leads to higher housing demand which leads to rich landlords and less space to put cars, which results in many, many parking tickets for the city. So it ends up being a pretty good ROI for the city for their $12K.
So, if it helps you stomach it, think of the starving artists as employees of the cultural/commercial venture known as New York City and when you rent your 200sf studio apartment to some college kid for $2800 a month, just think: that’s where your taxes went – into you having an easy time renting out your property.
And this isn’t even mentioning that $12K a year is really cheap and won’t rent you a closet in Dumbo, Williamsburg or any of the above-mentioned neighborhoods which the Artist “Division” of Corporation NYC have done such a good job of promoting.
The only people in this city who truly deserve handouts are investment bankers and media moguls because they (we) pay for every goddamn thing in this city. Big bonuses=big taxes=police, fire departments, subways, etc. NY should do anything they can to keep such earners here and not in Jersey. But, that would be a little to crazy, even for New York. So how about NO subsidies for anyone, and you either make it here or you don’t? Sounds good to me. An artist should be poor so they don’t sell out. A cushy artist is a liar.
I am a teacher and artist AND I live in Dumbo and work in the Bronx. Who needs more improvement? NOT DUMBO. Give $ to artists to buy in the Bronx! The Bronx has the highest poverty rate.
It is strange that the government will offer something like this when if they hadn’t cut so many school arts programs we might actually be able to produce more talented people and a larger audience to support our creative people.
The Dickhead who’s actually a c-u-n-t head.
Teachers, garbage workers, postal workers, police and other city workers provide a needed service. Not only do artists not provide a service- many of them do not provide goods that anyone would ever want or need.
“And all those schools and teachers, garbage workers, postal workers, police and other city workers too!!! All the way up to Bloomberg – does HE need subsidized housing???) They’re all bums if they can’t turn their trade into a profit-making business! They don’t deserve handouts!”
They work for the government. Should artists be government employees?
why don’t we just kick everyone off welfare (since they have no income they are worthless, right)?
Ah, my liberal friend- yes, I would love to kick most people off welfare but that’s your spoon-feeding that makes you jump to the conclusion that I would view them as being worthless based on their income.