June 22, 2023, published by Julia Goldberg

Under legislation passed in May by the New York City Council, the city’s pandemic-era Open Culture program, which allows arts and culture institutions to host events in public outdoor spaces throughout the city, will be renewed and made permanent. The bill, Intro. 590-A, passed with 47 votes in favor and just one against and awaits action by Mayor Eric Adams, though his administration has indicated its support.

The program aims to ensure cultural organizations can secure a wide variety of performance spaces and expand access to arts and culture throughout the city. According to the bill, it would be made permanent by August 1 under the purview of the Mayor’s Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management, the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Department of Transportation. 

The city established the Open Culture program on a temporary basis in March 2021, one year into the pandemic. It was critical to the survival of many institutions, said City Council Member Carlina Rivera, a Manhattan Democrat and the lead sponsor of the bill.

“It also allowed neighbors, families, and friends to come together in a safe way and made our communities more enjoyable and lively during a very harrowing time,” she said. 

Before the program sunset in March 2022, it enabled 489 public events to occur, according to Dawn Tolson, the executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management. Ballet, comedy, opera, and theater organizations all took advantage of Open Culture, hosting their rehearsals, classes, and performances outdoors, in part for more safety from COVID-19. There were nearly 200 available locations for events, and permits were expedited, with the Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management responding to requests within five days of their submission. 

The City Council’s Committee on Cultural Affairs, chaired by Council Member Chi Ossé, a Brooklyn Democrat, first held a hearing on the proposed legislation in October 2022. At the hearing, Laurie Cumbo, Commissioner of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and, when she was in the Council through 2021, a co-sponsor of the legislation that established the initial program, spoke to its success in expanding opportunities for artists in the city and her excitement about its revival. 

“We want to work with the Council to realize the vision of having art in all of our communities and for it to be accessible,” Cumbo told the committee, which she previously chaired. “It’s got to be indoors. It’s got to be outdoors. And it’s got to be everywhere throughout the city.”

Tolson added that even after the end of the original Open Culture program, the city has supported many cultural organizations through a similar program, Open Streets, which provides local businesses and groups with access to outdoor spaces for events and activities. 

Lucy Sexton, the executive director of New Yorkers for Culture and Arts, a culture advocacy coalition, testified in support of the program’s renewal during the hearing. Sexton said it was the first and only permit program that allowed groups to generate income while providing the public with free access to the arts. Previously, organizations soliciting donations had to pay far more for commercial permits, she explained. 

Under Open Culture, Sexton’s organization held a street party in Lower Manhattan with performances by stilt walkers, spoken word artists, and dancers. Donor tickets cost $100, though the event was open to all. 

“Open Culture is a groundbreaking win-win for artists and cultural groups, for the public, and for the entire city,” she said. “Streets filled with music, dance, and community create safer, happier, healthier neighborhoods.” 

Marianna Newirth, a representative from New York Opera Alliance, a consortium of 45 opera companies, likewise testified in support.

“There is value in having opera be part of our everyday New York City life,” Newirth said, noting that under the Open Culture program, opera companies performed in multiple city parks, community gardens, and streets. “I ask you to maintain this program and ever-evolving ways to help us as we do our job as independent opera companies making opera accessible to all New Yorkers.” 

Several other artists and organizations also submitted written testimony that urged the committee to pass the legislation. 

Between the October hearing and the May vote, the Committee altered the bill to expand the eligibility requirement for arts and culture organizations, to designate all roadways — rather than only those in the Open Streets program — as viable performance spaces, and to add a clause that mandates an annual report of the program produced by the Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management. 

The reports will provide clarity on the program’s reach, Rivera said in an interview. “If we saw Open Culture was not something that was happening in a community, we would want to find out why,” she said. “We want to find out if the local organizations feel supported and what we can change to improve the program.” 

The permit application fee also increased from $20 to $25. “The Mayor’s Office did want to create what we thought was a substantial and quite prohibitive fee — somewhere in the range of thousands of dollars, and that really isn’t the spirit of the program,” Rivera said. “We really did have to push back a bit.” There were no discussions about the fee during the October hearing at which Cumbo testified, and Cumbo did not suggest any specific changes to the bill during her testimony.

Outside of the permit application, participation in the program will remain free. 

Immediately preceding the City Council’s May vote, Rivera and others held a rally in Foley Square for Open Culture. Rivera commended the legislation, as did Council Members Ossé and Kevin Riley, a Bronx Democrat, and representatives from various arts and culture organizations. 

Sexton, who attended the rally, said in an interview that she was delighted when the legislation passed. “Open Culture is an acknowledgement by the city that culture is a vital part of our economy. I’m very appreciative of the city recognizing that,” she said. 

“I’m very, very excited to see this in the streets,” Rivera said.

Read here: https://www.gothamgazette.com/city/12063-open-culture-nyc-arts-access