2024 Open Letter to Mayor Adams
(Sign-on below)

Dear Mayor,

We are writing to you on behalf of a community of culture and arts organizations and workers that together represent a workforce of approximately 300,000 individuals and over 4,000 entities, and whose economic activity generates $110 billion annually—making New York City the cultural capital of the world. Our ecosystem is made up of organizations of varied sizes, structures, in many geographies, representing different cultures and disciplines, missions, and practices serving New Yorkers including those that are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, (BIPOC), immigrant, LGBTQIA+, low-income, disabled, and older New Yorkers. 

We are appreciative of the restoration of budget cuts already made to FY 25 and FY 26, and the restoration to the January 2024 cut for the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG), however, this is simply not enough. Now is the time for the administration to acknowledge and honor the crucial role grantees of the Cultural Development Fund (CDF) play alongside our partners in the large institutions making up the CIGs. 

This starts with restoring all cuts made to the CDF and the CIG specifically noting:

• the need for a total restoration for the CDF of $6.5 Million to account for cuts made in November 2023 and January 2024 to FY 24;

• the need for a total restoration of all cuts to CDF and CIG in FY 25 and a demand for an increased baseline for DCLA's total budget in FY 25, totaling a combined $53 Million. 

We are in full solidarity with the entire cultural sector in calling upon you to reverse the damage you’ve done to our city through this crushing divestment. We are grateful for the reversals that have already been announced and stress again that those fail as restitution for the harm caused.

By our estimation, without restoration of this $6.5 Million in FY24, we stand to lose at least 130 full-time equivalent workers from our labor force, 3250 artists will be denied fees for projects that New Yorkers will never get a chance to experience, and countless neighborhood art spaces will be forced to close their doors denying communities places to gather and exchange ideas and traditions. Cultural institutions from BAM to the Bronx Arts Ensemble, will have to cut staff by 10-20% this year following current trends, if they have not done so already. Restoring $6.5 Million to our budgets in FY24 will prevent further loss of talent, economic impact, and the cultural services that make our City such a vibrant and compelling place to live, work, and visit. 

Moreover, awards in FY24 were not announced until February, and funds were not distributed to grantees until March. Delayed funds wreak havoc on cash flow, operations, programs, and mental health. The fiscal year ends on June 30th. It is impossible to deliver $52.2 Million of services in the final quarter of the year, not to mention those projects that have been bankrolled out of reserves, loans, and credit card debt prior to announcement. 

The impact of these delayed, reduced, awards is already being felt, as shared by respondents to the Dance/NYC + A.R.T./New York FY24 CDF Impact Survey:    

• “Due to the lateness of the award and the funding we have had cash flow issues making payroll, paying artists, and paying bills, we have had to limit the number of artists in our shows compared to the prior FY, and we also had to take out a short term loan of 10K and pay 30K in expenses with our credit card to help meet our financial obligations. This lower award amount than in the previous FY year, as well as it being a multi-year award, will negatively affect our staffing, artist pay, and capacity over several years.”
  

• “Many components of our FY 24 CDF project are already underway and/or commitments have already been made to artists and venues for upcoming programs. It's too late to make any changes without damaging relationships with our artists and community partners so we are left to try and fill the gap in a year where there are extraordinary financial pressures on every part of our organization.”
  

• “We curtailed workshops for youth in…schools greatly because the grant letter was so delayed. The delay was very anxiety-provoking... We had to cut the number of workshops and we had to cut the number of Teaching Artists. If we did not get the funds soon we would have had to cut the workshops by half.“

Without restoration of $6.5 Million to our budgets in FY24, and without baselining DCLA’s budget at $45 Million for FY25, we will not be able to deliver crucial cultural services. The creative economy generates $110 Billion, which is 13% of NYC’s total economic activity. Can NYC afford to lose this revenue? 62 Million tourists visited NYC in 2023 to experience theater and dance performances, concerts, art exhibitions, and all of the cultural programs that we produce. Why will they visit in the future if there is no art to experience, no cultural engagement to savor? We do not write to make threats, simply to affirm the many critical impacts of our sector as support for our rightful demand to restore necessary funds to all cultural institutions and organizations in FY24 and all future years.  

ABOUT THE CULTURAL EQUITY COALITION (CECNYC) A diverse coalition of over 60 nonprofit performing arts centers, cultural organizations, community art centers, service organizations, and others located in all five boroughs of New York City. It includes members of LxNY | Latinx Arts Consortium of New York.