New York City is giving artists the brush-off
Unaffordable; other cities happy to oblige
Published on March 15, 2004
Eleven
years ago, Patricia Smith found a loft on a gritty street two blocks
east of the World Trade Center where she and her husband could live and
set up studios. They paid $1,700 a month, and like other artists
who were forced to take a chance on an underdeveloped neighborhood, got
used to the lack of amenities. Then the Sept. 11 attack came, and
as the city made plans to rebuild, speculators began placing bets that
lower Manhattan would become the next trendy neighborhood. Shortly
after Ms. Smith's lease expired, her building was sold and the new
owners refused to renew her lease unless she agreed to a 300% rent
increase. Last November, after 20 years in New York City, the couple moved upstate to Delaware County. "We
looked everywhere, in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, but we couldn't find a
space we could work in and afford," says Ms. Smith, a painter. "Our
income really dropped after 9/11."
Few alternatives
Artists are famous for going into rough areas, gentrifying
them, and then getting forced out. But there are fewer and fewer such
areas left in Manhattan. For the first time in memory, many artists are
skipping the move to other boroughs altogether and choosing to leave
New York City. Though there are no official numbers, arts
executives estimate that close to 1,000 artists have left the city in
the last two years. Thanks to a combination of post-Sept. 11 job losses
and skyrocketing real estate prices, fewer artists are coming in. "The
artist drain is our city's No. 1 cultural problem," says City Council
member Alan Gerson. "If it's allowed to continue, we will ultimately
lose our standing as one of the world's leading cultural centers."
Connection still strong
Of course, New York City is still far from losing that position. "If
you're a fisherman you have to go to the sea, and if you're an artist
you have to go to New York," says Lawrence White, a photographer. Mr.
White started out selling his photographs of dancers on the sidewalk
for $25, where he was discovered by the National Museum of Dance in
Saratoga, N.Y., which gave him a solo exhibition. Even though Mr.
White's photographs now sell for $400 to $700, he, too, is leaving the
city because he can't find affordable studio space here. He is buying a
place in Saratoga. "I would prefer to stay in New York City, but
I have to move because I have no more space to do my art anymore," he
says. "To have artists leaving in droves, particularly when they're
beginning to become successful, is a loss of a great resource." The
exodus of artists from New York City is a boon for the rest of the
country. Cities as near as Peekskill and as far as Seattle are making
major efforts to attract artists with discount housing and other perks,
and they are succeeding.
Outside lures
By building lofts and offering low-interest-rate loans,
Peekskill has attracted more than 100 artists, most of them from New
York City. The Near NorthWest Arts Council, an organization in Chicago
that is developing affordable housing for artists with help from the
city, has received 150 inquiries from people in New York. "We're
now in a competitive situation with many other cities," says Ted
Berger, executive director of the New York Foundation for the Arts, a
statewide concern that provides fellowships to artists and extends
loans to arts groups. "We're losing a momentum here." Arts
advocates are beginning lobbying efforts to push New York City to offer
concessions, too. Much of the activity is focused on lower Manhattan
because it is the latest neighborhood to undergo gentrification, and
decisions are still being made over how to rebuild Ground Zero. In
addition, some arts executives say, untapped funds earmarked for the
area could be used to develop affordable housing and studios for
artists. In two weeks, Mr. Gerson's office will release its
cultural blueprint for lower Manhattan, calling for a balance between
supporting large anchor cultural institutions and grassroots art. Last
month, the Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York held two public
panel discussions for visual artists, giving them the chance to put
forth ideas on how to develop lower Manhattan. But many artists
see an uphill battle. A recent study on the continuing economic impact
of Sept. 11 on 175 individual artists, sponsored by DowntownNYC!, a
downtown advocacy group, found that 15% of the artists have either left
or are considering leaving the city because of rising living costs; 13%
are considering abandoning their careers in the arts altogether.
Struggling
More than 85% of the respondents said their income was not
yet back to the levels reached in 2000, and 66% said their income was
going down. A full 81% said changes in business conditions for New York
artists have altered how they expect to continue their artistic careers. "In
Williamsburg, at 8:30 in the morning, all these younger-generation
artists are getting on the subway and going to their jobs in Manhattan
to support themselves because of the financial pressures in the city,"
says Ms. Smith, the painter. "It's a whole different lifestyle than if
you have the time to drink all night and create your art. That whole
romantic artist stereotype, those days are over."
Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc
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