Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, First Lady McCray Announce CreateNYC

July 19, 2017

First Lady Chirlane McCray: Thank you, Maleni.

[Laughter]

Good morning, everyone. I am so delighted to be here today. Isn't this place amazing? It really is. Yes.

[Applause]

I can't believe we're having a press conference in a treasure chest.

[Laugher]

This place is a huge supplier for all of our New York City public schools, from art supplies, to furniture, and everything else in between. Materials for the Arts just provide so much for our New York City public schools. And I know we make a lot of nonprofits and others happy as well. I really just want to stay here and play because they have so much for everyone to be able to create. And many of the materials are materials that would have been thrown away. So, I really thank this institution and I know we've got to do everything we can to support them.

[Applause]

So, I just want to tell you a little story to show my – why I have so much passion for the arts and culture in New York City. When I first moved to New York City from Massachusetts 40 years ago, I was truly in awe of this place. All of the streets seemed alive with the energy of individual and group expressions. From the Midtown march to work – an astonishing conformity – to the saffron robes and hypnotic chanting of the Hare Krishna devotees, murals bloomed in unexpected places and graffiti blazed in red, black, and blue, electric across the sides of buildings. Brown boys [inaudible] and spun and made poetry with their bodies on the subway and sidewalks with boomboxes booming. And in every borough, every neighborhood had its own signature rhythm and theater.

And for me, all of this was completely new and completely exciting. I grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts, which, let's face it, is not exactly a cultural hotbed. But thanks to loving and hardworking parents, I was exposed to the arts at an early age with piano lessons and glee club at school. And then, at the Dunbar Community Center, I was chosen to be a Frank Hatchett dancer. Now, believe me, this was a big deal.

[Laughter]

Frank Hatchett would later go on to help launch the Broadway Dance Center here in New York. But before then, with Frank's guidance in Springfield, we learned jazz, African, and many other styles of dance.

And though we learned once history and how to tell our own stories with movement, most important for me was the feeling of ties with the community. By then, my family had moved to a suburb of Springfield where I was the only black student in my class and that sense of community just wasn't there.

The Hatchet dancers and all of Frank's students, ranging from the tiny three-year-olds in candy-colored leotards, to the slower moving seniors and retirees, worked hard. And every year or so he would put on this grand recital. And for this to be successful, everyone had to pitch in, not just the families of the performers. And those recitals would go on for hours and hour and hours, but the auditorium would be packed all weekend.

And this little story about my dancing days illustrates just one of the many reasons why art is so important, why it matters. It has so much power to bring people together, to give individuals a chance to be a part of something that's bigger than them. People of all abilities – and I mean physical and mental.

And who can imagine a world without art? I certainly can't. Art is therapeutic and healing. If I could not write poetry or sing or dance when I was growing up, I probably would not be sitting here today. It is such a safe vehicle for difficult emotions. And where would be all be if we didn't have that potent mix of art and activism to help transform people's politics and their relationship with the world around them.

Now, we know that arts and culture matter to New Yorkers. A recent poll reports that – we study everything – a recent poll reports that 97 percent of New Yorkers value arts and culture. Can you believe that? It's probably the only thing that all New Yorkers agree about.

[Laughter]

Unfortunately, not all of our residents have the opportunity to fully experience the cultural life of our city or to be leaders and shapers of our cultural institutions. And very few artists without means have the support they need to do their work or be successful at it. So much talent is lost, and when talent is not nurtured it is not only those individuals artists who lose, we all lose. The man by my side works very hard every day to make sure that the arts in New York are for everyone. And I am so proud to work with him, our Mayor, Bill de Blasio.

[Applause]

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you so much, Chirlane. And I have to say, over the years, I've heard the stories that you just got a glimpse of, and, for Chirlane, why all of those experiences really were lifesaving. They allowed her to have strength even when she was experiencing discrimination or exclusion, and allowed her to believe in her own power and her own potential.

So, I have always been moved to understand that poetry for her, and dance for her, and music for her were ways of interpreting the world even if the world around sometimes seemed hostile. And they gave her strength and allowed her to bring out everything she had in her, and that's true for millions and millions of people in this city, and this is why today is so important – it's about literally allowing each person to realize their full potential and to be able to express their identity – that's the power of what we're talking about today.

So, thank you, Chirlane, for all you do every day in this work, but all you've done in your life in pursuit of that goal for everyone. And I want to thank some of my colleagues who are here. You're going to hear from some of my colleagues in a moment but I'd also like – there's another note I've been handed.

I'd like to also thank – first of all, a lot of energy went into putting together the plan we're going to talk about today, including from some of the folks here, but I want to thank our First Deputy Mayor Tony Shorris for his hard work on this plan. And I want to thank our Commissioner for the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, Victor Calise, for his great work. Yes, you can clap for them.

[Applause]

We are joined by one of the great philanthropists in this city who has devoted herself to the connection between arts and education, and making sure that children of every walk of life, every income, every background had the maximum opportunity to experience the arts, and she's been a leader in convincing the cultural world to focus on reaching all of our children in all of our communities – Agnes Gund, thank you so much.

[Applause]

I want to thank – you'll hear from Council members Jimmy Van Bramer and Steve Levin, but I want to thank them upfront for the legislation that they sponsored that made such a big difference here in realizing this inclusive vision of the arts. And for the folks who preceded Chirlane and I – first of all, if you want to wake up in the morning in Queens and have a great day, just ask the Korean Traditional Marching Band to start your day. So, let's thank them for their great work.

[Applause]

And I also have to say to Maleni Chaitoo, thank you. Thank you for your extraordinary remarks. It meant a lot to everyone here. And Maleni is a classic New Yorker. She's involved in everything simultaneously. She is an over achiever. She has 24-hour energy. But she's a great example to us all. Thank you, Maleni.

[Applause]

So, Chirlane referenced a survey we did – 97 percent of New Yorkers, acknowledging how important arts and culture are to them. And I'm going to interpret that another way – we're very proud as New Yorkers. We believe this is the greatest city in the world. Who here believes this is the greatest city in the world?

[Applause]

And one of the reasons we are most proud is the cultural institutions and organizations that we have here. We know we're the home to some of the most famous, most renowned arts organizations, and dance troops, and museums, you name it. But we also know in every community, as Chirlane talked about, there are less well known, but equally wonderful arts organizations and grassroots arts groups doing amazing work. We know talent resides in every corner of the city.

So, when people talk about their pride, that pride may be in a great museum or a great ballet. It could be in a great local organization that comes to their school and helps their kids experience the arts. But either way you slice it, for New Yorkers, this is part of our identity. Now, every city has their artists, but, here, artists are so front and center in the life of our city. And all of the amazing people who came from here, we celebrate. The forms of music created here – hip-hop was created here, salsa was created here. The things that grew in New York City make us especially proud.

So, it's who we are as New Yorkers to believe that arts and culture are in the front of our lives. I also would say that I think we inherently believe in the power of arts and culture, not just because it expresses who we are – and we're the most diverse place on earth and it's important that every part of the community express its culture, its history, but also its views – and this is the other part of the equation. New York City, throughout its history, has been a place that valued free speech and understood there would be differences of opinion, as Chirlane referenced before. Differences of opinion – that's a New York thing if ever I knew one. 8.5 million people with 8.5 million different opinions.

But we believe in democracy here and we always have, and arts and culture – the freedom and strength of the cultural community – aligns directly to the strength of our democracy. And this is an important moment in history to remember that. A lot of times when there's controversy, particularly when some communities are being ostracized, the counter-effort, the effort to remind people about our common humanity comes from the cultural sector, right? Many, many times when you've seen discrimination and unfairness, the cultural sector was in the vanguard of speaking up and portraying why that was wrong. And we know that in any museum and any concert hall, any place you go in the cultural world, you're going to see that freedom, that openness to all viewpoints. And a lot of times, the cultural community is our conscience to remind us not to let our democracy fray, not to let it be undermined.

So, what we talked about today is both about reflecting who we are as New Yorkers but also reflecting the values that we have in this city.

What do you think of when you think of a thriving cultural community? You think of a lot of creativity. You think of people who have great aspirations and visions of things that have not yet been created. You think of a drive amongst artists and cultural workers that constantly tells them to take risks. That, to me, aligns to everything that's great about New York City. This is a city of risk-takers and entrepreneurs and creators, and our arts community is our leading edge.

And so, we remember that a lot of times when we're needing some more energy, when we're needing some more inspiration, we turn to a play, we turn to a movie, we turn to a concert, we turn to something that uplifts us and gives us back our energy and our hope. And we know that for a lot of our young people, that moment when they started to define their hopes for themselves happened while looking at a work of art or being at a performance. There was that one moment of inspiration that changed their lives.

Now, we have to help that happen for every single child. And we know that in the real world, there are impediments. We know that supporting our cultural community costs money. We know that we have to make sure that there are not barriers, whether they're physical or assumed, that stop people from experiencing the fullness of our cultural sector.

And we know that a lot of our cultural organizations have more work to do to reflect the diversity of New York City. And when you think about it, that is really about making sure that everyone can participate, that no one is deprived. We're an egalitarian city – we don't like to see anyone left out – and that's what is so powerful about this plan. It provides so many elements that will strengthen our cultural organizations, but also ensure that everyone gets a chance to experience the inspiration they provide.

You know, we don't know where the next great artists are going to come from. We don't know where the visionaries who will frame our future will grow. It could be in Brownsville or East New York. It could be here in Long Island City. It could be anywhere, and that's the point. We have to make that opportunity available everywhere.

So, that is what this plan is about. It is a heavy plan

[Laughter]

CreateNYC. And this has taken a lot of work – you'll hear from Tom Finkelpearl in a minute – but this has really been a labor of love for Tom, and so many other people. I don't think there's anything I've ever seen that there was so much work put into listening to people in communities all over the city to understand what they wanted, what they needed, what their vision was. But it's all here – the summation of all of that research, all of that attempt to hear what everyday New Yorkers felt about arts and culture. And it represents a new way of thinking because it puts the notion of inclusiveness at the forefront. There are arts organizations that have been extraordinarily inclusive for years, decades. There are others than have more to do – certainly some history of elements of the cultural sector being seen as elitist. That doesn't conform with the values of New Yorkers. We want to overcome that. We want every cultural organization to be for everyone.

So, this extraordinary report – and you'll hear about it – is based on literally meetings that include tens of thousands of New Yorkers. And this equates to the approach we have tried to take from the beginning, but it builds on it.

You know, one of the things I'm most proud of is when we started out our initiative with IDNYC. There were many good reasons for IDNYC, but one of the most exciting parts of it was the notion of opening up the doors of our cultural institutions. And some of you will remember the original projections – I'd like to remind Tony Shorris of this frequently – the ironclad original projection of 100,000 people signing up for IDNY in the first year. He was off by times-ten –

[Laughter]

It was almost a million people we got in the first year and growing all the time. And one of the amazing things – I want to thank all of the representatives of the cultural organizations that participated in IDNYC – there was incredible enthusiasm in the cultural sector to be a part of this. And, you know, the belief was a lot of folks who walked through the doors who had never walked through the doors before because maybe they came from another borough, maybe they didn't have a lot of money, maybe they were immigrants. But once they experienced that greatness of these cultural institutions – in fact, they would become members of their own volition. And lo and behold, it's happening all over this city.

So, that's an example of something we started with, but we wanted to build upon it, we wanted to make it something pervasive. We wanted to make sure that no one was excluded, and that included no physical exclusions. We did not want to see anybody with disabilities kept from experiencing the fullness of our cultural sector. And we knew that would take real work, so in this plan you see investments to make our cultural spaces more accessible.

We knew that we wanted to see New Yorkers of all ages, particularly younger New Yorkers, have opportunity to work in our extraordinary cultural institutions, and we knew we had to do more. So, in this plan you'll see a paid internship program that places CUNY students in cultural organizations that hopefully starts them on a great career doing this work.

And we know – this is a classic New York City reality – for generations in New York City, amazing people grew up here or came here from other parts of the country, other parts of the world, because they saw this as the cultural mecca. They saw this as the place to really grow and achieve their dreams. And we all know the history of the "starving artist." You know, the artist or performer who waited tables – I think you can find a lot of them out there right now in New York City – or drove a cab, did whatever it takes. But they could find a place to live – it was pretty cheap – and they could really pursue their dreams. That's gotten harder and harder – and that's both true about living and the place to do the work of an artist. So, you'll see in this plan a further focus on affordable work spaces for artists so that this can be a part of New York City to come.

In here – a total of $18.5 million in new investments. I want to thank the Council – almost half of that is from the City Council, almost half from the administration. And further a focus on ensuring that our cultural organizations continue to draw in every kind of New Yorker in every way, and that includes who works for them. We believe that a major goal for this city should be to have our cultural organizations represent this city in every way. And we believe it's important to create real measures to help that happen.

Remember, approximately two-thirds of people who live in this city are people of color. But our cultural sector in terms of the staff of our cultural sector – it's about 38 percent people of color. And about 26 percent of senior staff in cultural organizations are people of color.

We've got a long way to go. We've got more work to do. And this plan helps us to get there. Starting this year, we're going to openly collect the information on the demographic makeup of boards and staffs of organizations. And we're going to ask them to talk about their vision for continuing to make organizations more inclusive. This will be a factor in funding decisions by the City going forward, because it's important to ensure if we're investing public money that these organizations represent everyone and include everyone. And, next year, we're going to have a plan to have each cultural organization to submit a diversity plan with measurable goals for how they're going to continue to make progress.

We do this because we believe in fairness. We do this because we want to make sure that everyone has a chance to experience this work and to experience the art that it produces and opens up to the world. We also do it because we recognize the power of the arts. We recognize the life-changing reality. We have to make sure that reaches as many people as possible.

So, here in this city, we are proud of our cultural community. We are proud of the energy that's in the air here every day. We're proud that we celebrate diversity. No where do we celebrate diversity more than Queens, the most diverse place on the planet, as I'm seeing this week.

[Applause]

And this plan – this plan honors that vision of an energetic cultural sector for everyone and the fullness of New York City being expressed to our cultural community and being open to all.

Just a few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, it is my pleasure to turn to a partner in this work we've been doing. I want to thank all of the City Council members because they've been great believers in this work. I want to turn to the Speaker of the City Council, Melissa Mark-Viverito.

[…]

Mayor: Thank you very much.

[Applause]

So a huge amount of work went into this plan. And again, thank you to the City Council for leading the way. The day to day work of listening to tens of thousands of New Yorkers and taking their words and ideas and putting it into a larger vision fell upon the Department of Cultural Affairs and they did an extraordinary job.

And I want to thank Tom Finkelpearl and all of his team, and introduce, unquestionably, the most popular commissioner in New York City – Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl.

[Applause]

Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl, Department of Cultural Affairs: Yes, popular until now right? So I just want to say it was such an honor to be out and about, to work with thousands of thousands – tens of thousands of New Yorkers at hundreds of meetings. In the cultural plan there are eight chapters, they relate to equity and inclusion, social and economic impact, affordability, neighborhood character, arts and science education, arts and culture in public space, citywide coordination, health of the cultural sector, and New York City artists. We are – there are plans to roll out that are going to have an immediate effect on those but I think it's a mistake actually to just look at this year's budget.

This is a visionary plan for the future. This is going to affect everything we do at the agency. So there are action items at the end of the book but again it's the entire cultural budget that is at stake here. So we're again excited to see funding. I do want to thank the Council, to thank the Majority Leader, to thank the folks that got this law up and running. This is a new day for arts and culture.

Again, what happens right now is important, we have action items. This should be judged on what the cultural climate is, what the cultural workforce looks like in five years as a check-in and in ten years the plan – a new plan is called for.

So I, again, it's been an amazing thing. I see the unions are here, I see that the cultural workers are here, the cultural organizations. We have had a special relationship with a group called the Disability Arts New York City Taskforce which Melanie tried to reference. It's extremely important, it's in the plan, we have new staff and new funding related to access to art – disability arts. We had an amazing relationship with the DIY community and the folks there. You would not think of that as the most organized, but they were one of the most organized parts of New York City, I have to say. They came to meetings, they pushed forward, we already have a nightlife ambassador at another agency really came out of this cultural plan but it's going to be over at Media and Entertainment. So we're excited, there's a lot to look at, there's a lot of amazing stuff in this 175-page document.

I want to thank the Mayor for incredible support. The money that the Mayor has added to the last two budgets has been so meaningful to the cultural community. I get thanked a lot for it, I want to thank you, push the thanks upstairs one time. So thank you so much to everybody here. It's an amazing day. I think this is a defining day of certainly my time as Commissioner, and with that thank you so much.

Mayor: Thank you. Well done, Tom. And now turning to Mr. Culture himself, the Chair of the Committee on Cultural Affairs in the City Council, Council member Jimmy Van Bramer. Thank you for your leadership.

[…]

Mayor: Thank you very much, Assembly member. We're going to take questions about the cultural plan, and then I have another update on another matter that I'll offer, then we'll take questions on all other topics. So first want to see, if there any questions about the cultural plan?

Grace.

Question: [Inaudible] expand on, you talked about how you're going to be asking for demographic information [inaudible] that would be a factor in funding decisions. What is that mean exactly? How much of a factor? Are you looking for improvement, are you looking for a certain number [inaudible]? And how quickly in that first year, in this year will that be an issue that's on the table?

Mayor: Sure, thank you Grace. I'll start and Tom will jump in. You know, in the approach to funding we take on many, many fronts, many agencies – we include things that we think are important to moving the city forwards. So it's very typical to include a variety of factors, and they all get weighed in the mix of what we're doing with the funding decision. We're saying this matters. It is one of the things that needs to be considered.

Now the most important thing from my point of view is that each organization have a vision, a realizable vision for inclusion, for making sure their audiences are diverse, for making sure their staff is diverse. And sometimes that'll take time to actualize, but we want to see that each institution that's asking for public money, obviously asking for taxpayer dollars, is mindful of the fact that we think it's a real value in this city to be inclusive. So it will be one of a number of factors that will get looked at. Tom can talk about how that will be implemented.

Commissioner Finkelpearl: Sure, I can get a little bit more into the weeds. So we're saying is the first year, we will have a new question on our competitively awarded grants. And the question will be how does your organization – some version of how does your organization address equity and inclusion. That will be part of the evaluation process for grants through what's called the cultural development fund. Those are grant – are guidelines so there trainings are going to start now this month. That will be discussed in the trainings. The applications are actually in the spring. And that will be a question which will be taken into considering – funding considerations by the outside panel that makes those determinations.

The first year as well we will ask for from grantees demographic information about their staffs and boards, etcetera. We've done this before in our diversity survey. We did it as a third-party, non-profit – it was paid for by a private non-profit, and done by a private non-profit at arm's length from the City. This will be done.

And then the second year we will require the cultural institution group to come up with a diversity and inclusion plan for their staffs and boards with measurable goals. So that's the – that's three different thing we're doing, two in the first year and one in the second year. That's what the Mayor was referring to.

Mayor: Go ahead.

Question: Just to bring a sense of [inaudible], how many organizations come to the city, depend on the city –

Commissioner Finkelpearl: Yes.

Question: – for support. I mean are these everyone from the largest in the city to the smallest?

Commissioner Finkelpearl: So, we fund about, just under a thousand organizations. A large part of our funding goes to what's called the cultural institution group. This is an idea started in the 19th century with the Metropolitan Museum and Natural History. They're on City property. We pay heat and light and we pay operating support. So what we're saying is the cultural development fund is about 950 organizations. That's competitively awarded grants. And the cultural institution group is 33 institutions upon City property. So overall, it's about, you could say just shy of 1,000 organizations that we fund.

Mayor: Okay, let's go back first. Way back. Who's back there?

Question: [Inaudible] are there other areas where the City bases its funding organizations off diversity of the leadership and membership of the organization that is being funded. And then for the Commissioner, you said when the Mayor was introducing as the most popular commissioner, you said popular until now. Do you think this initiative might make you less popular?

Commissioner Finkelpearl: I – okay – should I answer that question first? That's a very speculative question. Look, I did. I said it. No, no I think that the – we plan to be very collaborative; we know the cultural institution group as well, represented here, lots of these people are representing amazing institutions who want to work collaboratively. We have ideas, there are foundations who are quite interested who are helping us out with this. I don't – honestly, it was a joke. I am prone –

Mayor: I think you're very popular.

Commissioner Finkelpearl: I'm prone to making – maybe that's maybe part of my popularity is I say things like that off the cuff. But I don't – no, I, look, I love these institutions. It's my job to love these institutions. It's also my job to work to make these institutions more open and more inclusive.

Mayor: And David to – I think there's a parallel here to IDNYC. You know, again, ultimately proved to be a great success in terms of the experience we had with the cultural organizations. Some were entirely embracing from word one, some were hesitant, some were deeply concerned. We got there together. But, you know, change is always a process. We're saying, and I don't think it's exactly a newsflash, that we can do better as a city at ensuring diverse audiences and a diverse workforce. So we think this is a way to help move forward that effort.

To your other question, we can get you the chapter and verse. We look at a variety of factors in funding decisions traditionally. This is an area where I think unlike most of what we do, think about most of the things the City does, you know schools, Parks, policing, Sanitation, whatever, there's really not the same question about audiences and how they interact with something or engage something.

This is an area where we've known for a long time we had to break down some barriers in terms of diversity. We've certainly known we've had to break down barriers in terms of physical access, access to folks with disabilities. This – the cultural field is its own reality and we're trying to address that very, very squarely here.

But we believe – I think the simplest way to put it, and again I give the City Council a lot of credit because they've been working on this for years is that this is an idea whose time has come. This is New York City today. Ten, twenty years ago in New York City maybe people would have felt something different, but today we understand who we are as a city. Again, we're two-thirds people of color, we're, as you heard, almost 10 percent folks with disabilities. Let's get up with the times and have a plan that reflects New York City today.

Question: This is for the Council Speaker and the Mayor. Council Speaker, [inaudible] talked about resistance and obstruction; it sounded like you [inaudible] some resistance and some obstruction to this plan. Can you give us more specifics on that? Where do you think the resistance and obstruction comes from?

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito: Let's be honest, any movement for equality and inclusion doesn't come easily. And we are going to work collaboratively with everyone. It's not about diminishing the importance of anybody in this process. But I think that we also have to take a more expansive view, a larger, broader view as a city of how we support the cultural movement in this city. And that is looking beyond I think what typically has been looked at. I think that in the past four years as we've ended – with the leadership of this Mayor and this Council because of our slant and our vision and being building an inclusive city we want to bring more people to the table. We want to bring those smaller cultural organizations that are in the heart of Queens or the northernmost part of the Bronx, you know, into this conversation.

And so, as you expand that, some people may see that as a threat. I don't think it has to be seen as a threat but some people may not be as open because they think somehow that will be detrimental to themselves. So it's about expanding the conversation and seeing how this is a benefit to everybody. But you know, I'm not going to sit here and say that we haven't heard grumblings already from people about what this may mean for them. That's a reality of life.

Any movement or any attempt by government in particular to build a broader more inclusive, equitable society will come with some knocks. That's the way it has been historically. And I think we're up for the challenge.

Mayor: Well said, I agree with the Speaker. And let me just respond to your original question. I agree with the Speaker entirely in her analysis. I'd like to note further geography is a – to pick up on the Speaker's point – geography is a big factor here. I really give Jimmy Van Bramer credit as a proud son of Queens for relentlessly promoting the idea of investments in outer borough cultural institutions.

Tom Finkelpearl, I remember vividly his interview for Cultural Affairs commissioner and obviously he had been running the Queens Museum and was a strong protagonist of the notion of seeing culture in the city as a five-borough thing and not as something primarily focused on Manhattan. And he was very passionate about that. One of the things that made me choose him as Commissioner.

I know, I see folks here representing each borough and I know there's been frustration for a long time, during Staten Island Week we heard it, during Bronx Week we heard it. And I certainly know it from my beloved Brooklyn that there's a lot of organizations that feel there wasn't equality of treatment based on geography even though the vast majority of New Yorkers live in the outer boroughs.

So this was another part of this plan, to say, hey, culture takes many forms, it has to reach people where they live. We believe in things like IDNYC for sure that make it easier for folks to access culture across the boroughs but we also want to make sure funding is really focused on the local cultural organizations that so many people depend on. So that's a big piece of this equation too.

Go ahead.

Question: Just taking it back, where are the grumblings coming from? Where do you expect resistance to this?

Mayor: No, I'm not – I'm not speculating on where they're coming from. I think the Speaker said it right, whenever you make change there's going to be some people who are concerned or resistant. But this process has been outstanding, I mean the amount of consultation here has been extraordinary if you look at the facts here, I can't think of anything where I've seen more consultation. And I think for a lot of folks in the cultural world they understand for years both the Council and the administration have been moving in this direction. So I don't think it's going to be a shock to anyone, but there is always going to be some resistance to change.

Gloria.

Question: Mr. Mayor, I was [inaudible] are you mandating diversity from some of these organizations, is the City able to do that in order for them to receive funding?

Mayor: It's not a mandate, we're making very clear that we believe as people lay out the virtues that they are promoting as the reason to be funded that this is an important factor to us. Think about any funding application. In the funding application the applicant puts forward their strengths and why they think that their organization is particularly worthy of funding and it's obviously competitive. So, implicitly why are they more worthy than someone else? How many people do they serve for example? They serve more people than someone else. That they're providing something that's not available anywhere else. There's all sorts of ways you can think about it.

We're saying it's very important to us, as we look at a broad spectrum of factors, to see that there's a commitment to diverse audiences and diverse staff. It's as simple as that. And having a plan, just having a plan for example to achieve that is a big factor to us.

Question: [Inaudible] speak about institutions that maybe haven't done a great job of reaching out to other communities, is that part of the reason why you haven't visited a lot of the bigger art institutions in the city? Do you plan to get out more or are you going to be visiting the smaller ones in order –

Mayor: Do you plan to get out more? I like that. You should get out more, right. Chirlane and I are homebodies. You should get out more, honey.

First Lady McCray: [Inaudible]

[Laughter]

Yes, we – look we make our decisions about our schedule primarily on what we have to do as a part of our work. And then some of the rest of the time is just recovering from our work. So – but you know I don't have a particular plan of which organizations to visit. A lot of members of my team have done a great job working with the cultural organizations, I know, and spend a lot of time with them. I don't have a particular plan for that, it's all you know basically decided week by week whatever's going on.

Jillian.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Oh come on, Jillian. Not too many parts.

Question: [Inaudible] you know you're talking a lot about outer-borough museums, there's a move for more diversity and you also at one point used the word elitist when talking about how some people see certain cultural institutions. Do you think that some of the larger cultural institutions in the city are elitist?

Mayor: I think they were. There's no question in my mind that they were both perceived to be and were often in fact actually elitist. I mean it's not giving a newsflash. Some of them were created to be elitist. I think history has had a big impact meaning even before we got here a lot of that was changing for sure. Just the expectations in our society were changing. I think we'd become a more egalitarian society, and people of all backgrounds have wanted to see more diversity both again in audiences and in the workplace. But there's always more work to do so I think the consciousness has changed a lot but there's more work to do. And I think there's a semblance of elitism still, of course.

There's still the assumption among many New Yorkers about where they belong and where they don't belong. It's something Chirlane and I have talked about for the last quarter-century or so that you know, the perceived barrier is really important here. If people don't feel they belong in an institution of high culture that's almost the same as if you put up a physical barrier. And we have to overcome that. That's one of the things we're really proud about with IDNYC is that it said to people come on in. And lo and behold they came on in. And again, the forty organizations that participate, and we really thank them for that. We said this was going to be a win-win and I think a lot of them end up feeling very strongly it was. That they got new audiences, they got folks who really felt okay this is for me after all. And that was good for everyone.

But our job is to say – think about this for a moment, the minute public funds are involved, to me, it's really important that the thing be for everyone. Our job is to say, whatever you thought it was in the past, now all of these organizations are for you. You know, they're for every kind of New Yorker and we think this plan will help us achieve that.

Commissioner Finkelpearl: Can I just add –

Mayor: Please.

Commissioner Finkelpearl: Just a couple of things. So, I think what the Mayor says is absolutely right that if you look at a cultural institution and who is walking in the doors 50 or 100 years ago – and some of these organizations are 145 years old – the education programming that these organizations do, the partnership with the public schools, this is fantastic and it really is fundamental. The change is already happening. The change needs to happen more. I think that's what we hear over and over again from our tens of thousands of New Yorkers in 418 meetings.

So, we felt it but we also feel a good partnership and good willingness – again, I haven't heard the grumblings yet. I don't know if you've been getting any calls. I have not gotten any calls yet, grumbling. I just want to say that, that transition historically is already underway. I think that's what the Mayor was just saying.

Mayor: Okay. Jillian, last one in the interest of fairness and then I'm going back.

Question: You spoke about [inaudible] subway dancing and graffiti. The Commissioner spoke about DIY spaces. But in New York, I mean, subway dancing is against the law. [Inaudible] Building violations [inaudible] Cabaret Law that prevents dancing. How do you balance –

Mayor: We oppose all dancing and displays of affection.

[Laughter]

Question: [Inaudible] –

Mayor: Our new cultural police will be enforcing the anti-dancing program.

[Laughter]

Question: [Inaudible] how do you balance that [inaudible].

Mayor: Alright, thank you for your 27-part question. The – look, I don't think there's a dichotomy there. I think there are lots of spaces where, you know, the young people who did subway dancing are now doing it in a place that's legal and appropriate. Same with graffiti that's been used in artistic settings that's appropriate.

You know, I'm someone who says, yeah, of course we should take another look at the Cabaret Law. There are real issues there and we'll be talking to the Council about that. But I would argue to you, if you take the entire environment of New York City and eight-and-a-half million people, this is a very open environment that encourages artistic expression and supports it in ways I think surpassed what happens in most of this country and most of the world probably.

So, yeah, there's some examples where we still have to sort out competing needs. Like, I get if someone's in the subway they may not want a dance performance, you know, right in front of their face at that exact moment of their life. We have to deal with that.

But they may love that exact same performance in another place. So, it's the kind of balance we strike all the time.

Question: Mr. Mayor [inaudible] folks in Manhattan [inaudible]?

Mayor: The – I'll start and turn to Tom and I'm sure Chair Van Bramer as well can speak to this.

First of all, one of the things that the chairman said is we've been increasing the pie, and he's been quite adamant about that point. He's kind of one-note about more cultural funding. Good morning, more cultural funding.

[Laughter]

So, we've been increasing the pie while ensuring that there was more equity in the process. So, I don't think this plan stipulates – I really want to make sure there's not a misunderstanding – it doesn't stipulate, here's exactly how the funding is going to go for each borough or each organization.

It creates a different vision of where we need to go and people really do respond to this. Again, I use the IDNYC example. That was not a mandate. You could participate or not participate but we said we really valued it, we really wanted people to participate. And those that participate realized a great benefit.

So, this pushes us in the direction of making sure there's maximum borough equity in what we do. You want to speak to it?

Commissioner Finkelpearl: Sure. Would you like to speak first? Okay.

This is not a budget document that stipulates something like that. This is a document that says – and we did a survey earlier in the year which was the Social Impact of the Arts which showed which parts of the city have lower arts and cultural participation and assets. So, we want to put assets towards that. That doesn't – you know, it's not a zero-sum game. There's additional money in the budget this year. What the Council's done, what we've done has been to support things that are going to put more arts and culture into those communities. So, this is not a document that advocates taking money away from the Metropolitan Museum. I want to say that clearly. You asked that.

It is a document that says that we're going to collect demographic information about cultural institutions starting this year. Starting next year, as the Mayor said earlier, we're going to ask organizations to show us their diversity and inclusion plan, requiring them to do that.

So, that is where we're going but it is not a redistributive, taking money from this to do that. It is a document that shows where we should be going. And a lot of money, this year, from the Council and from the Mayor is holding true to those values.

Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer: So, yes, I want to amplify that. And also just one of the previous questions that was asked a few times about the resistance and who might be concerned, and quite frankly Robin and others have written have written about this, right. There was some concern that we were going to take from others – rob Peter to pay Paul. I've long advocated that we would actually increase access and bring more equity to the system not by harming anyone but by adding to the pot and by allocating the new funding in a way that is truly progressive and actually targets smaller organizations.

So, we believe we have a framework – both the Commissioner and the administration and the Speaker and I – that we're going to be able to allocate this $18.5 million. A record year on top of a record year thanks to the Mayor and the Speaker and both bodies of government in a way that makes sure that the cultural institution's group members are well funded and that we also meet the values and the goals of this plan. And we're going to do that right away by making sure that we are getting funding to each neighborhood through the arts councils to individual artists and to small organizations, cultural organizations, nonprofit organizations everywhere. We can do both and I believe we are and we will.

Mayor: Well said.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I don't understand the question.

Question: [Inaudible] predict which direction funding is going [inaudible] –

Mayor: We don't predict funding. First of all, there's going to be a budget process every year. I think the central point here is as we go forward, we want to see funding that reflects life in all five boroughs and reflects all the people of this city and maximizes diverse audiences and diverse workforces.

By the way, I think there's a lot of cultural organizations big and small that have gotten the memo and want to achieve that. So, they'll – I think a lot of organizations are going to do quite well under this plan because they recognize it's a healthy vision.

Question: [Inaudible] increase in the budget was arrived at before the plan. The plan was not done [inaudible]. Going forward, there seems to be lacking in the document anything binding that ensure that if you increase funding [inaudible]. Is there any way in which this will become somehow built in some insurance that there will be a bigger pie going forward in future [inaudible], it's not dependent on your priorities?

Mayor: If we were not dealing with the dynamics in Washington, I might be able to give you a more definitive answer. So, I want to be very straight forward. We are experiencing the great unknown because of the Trump administration although I have to say the great unknown, it's sort of like we used to say about the weather in New England – if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes.

It's like if you don't like the legislative situation in Washington, wait another day and it will change again. So, we really – we've seen this on health care and we've actually started to see it on the budget, these weird shifts where sometimes it looks like there's going to be massive cuts and massive changes and other times it looks like it's not.

But I think it's very fair to say we have to get through this year, this calendar year both in terms in of the federal budget and the "tax reform" to understand the shape of future federal funding. There are scenarios where the City of New York could lose, immediately by the end of this year, hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding overall and potentially billions. And then that changes the budget for everyone.

If there was more stability, and we'll get a good read after this year, then we think about if there's way to lock in a bigger vision on funding.

But what we can say for sure is New York City has been generous and focused on cultural funding. This is just part of who we are as New Yorkers for decades. That is not going to change. This plan presents what we believe is a consensus position of the people of this city who we exhaustively engaged. And I think it sends a message to all the organizations of a good way forward and it will have an impact obviously on how we think about funding.

But the good news is, with this now as a guiding light we can say to all communities there's going to be fairness and that encourages more funding, honestly. It takes away any concern that funding is not, you know, achieving something for all kinds of New Yorkers. I think this sets up a framework that allows for consistency and funding and eventually greater funding.

But first we have to get through the Washington dynamic. Okay other question. Way back, way back.

Question: [Inaudible] Commissioner, in the report it says that there are 250,000 participants in the –

Mayor: I just want to confirm, I'm sorry because I don't know you, media question, yes?

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Member of the media?

Question: Me?

Mayor: Are you a member of the media?

Question: Oh, no.

Mayor: Okay, I'm sorry. We're just taking questions from –

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: We're just – my apologies. We're taking questions from the media right now. Any other questions on this topic. Who is that hand back there? There you go. That's you, Jillian. Your hand was not very high, I thought it might –

Question: [Inaudible] have you been to [inaudible]?

Mayor: No.

Any other questions? Going once, going twice. Okay, we're going to go – quick update.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I'm sorry. Go ahead, Ross.

Question: Why can't you repeal the Cabaret Law?

Mayor: As I said, we're going to look at the Cabaret Law with the Council. I've never been an expert on the Cabaret Law but I've had concerns about it for a while and I think it's worth a serious look, that some pieces of it may not make sense anymore. But we're going to have to go through a legislative process.

Alright, last call on this announcement today. Okay, now, I'm going to do a little bit of an update and then we're going to take questions on other topics. To emphasize my update – everyone hang out, don't go anywhere, it's cool – I am taking off my jacket because the update involves a heat advisory. This is a visualization of the fact that we're about to have a heat advisory.

[Applause]

I should get out one of those fans, spray bottle.

Okay, the National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for New York City beginning at noon. So, we're right about there. And will go to tonight at 8:00 pm. Temperatures will be in the low 90s but the heat index will make it feel like the high 90s at least.

And, so, I want everyone to be aware of an exceptional heat situation. We're asking everyone to remember the basics – stay safe, stay hydrated, stay indoors. If you don't need be outdoors today, it's a good day to stay indoors, stay in air conditioning if you can.

Check on any neighbors who may be vulnerable particularly seniors. If you have pets, be aware, this heat situation is tough on pets too. So, make sure they stay hydrated.

We have cooling centers now open as of this morning. If anyone lives some place where it's too hot and they don't have an alternative in that place and needs some place else to go that's cool, call 3-1-1 and we have cooling centers available all over the city for everyone.

And important – just spread the word for people to take it easy today and to be safe. I'm sorry I've been handed an update. The heat advisory is until 8:00 pm tomorrow – tomorrow, Thursday.

So, it's on now and goes until 8:00 pm tomorrow.

Okay, questions on any other topics. Yes –

Question: [Inaudible] take mass transit. We know you've used it. It's a two-part question. I'd like to get your review of the Summer of Hell track work so far and then also if you look at the budget for – obviously it's a State thing but also a City thing – when you see Governor Cuomo –

Mayor: Sorry –

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: First thing's first –

Question: [Inaudible] Cuomo pledged $10 million – $10 billion rather for, you know, Kennedy Airport or the Van Wyck. Do you think the budget should be reallocated with this emergency in mind?

Mayor: Great question, I appreciate it. The "Summer of Hell" is, you know, we're only days into it. And I think it's fair to say it's been less bad than feared but we've only just begun. We're talking about the stuff related to Penn Station, obviously some of the incidents we've had had nothing to do with Penn Station. So, we've had some very troubling incidents but not as much related to the Penn Station changes. Early in the equation here.

I've said many times there's a crisis right now going on with our subways. It's quite clear. And we need to do things differently and that means the State, the Governor, the MTA have to come up with a plan that reallocates their resources to the problems at hand. We know what they are. We know it's the signal systems. We know it's the electrical systems. We know it's the real basic stuff that needs to be addressed.

And I think it's unquestionably true that resources in the MTA budget are going to things that are less vital than those problems and need to be reallocated to address those problems. So, that's just within the MTA budget.

I haven't gotten as far as thinking about whether you'd have to look at some of those other things you mentioned which are important. Every one of them is important. The airports are obviously important. I think the first question is within the huge MTA budget, what can the State do to fix the problem with the money it has right now and to focus on its number one mission within the MTA which is the subways by a lot? You're talking about the overwhelming majority of riders in the MTA go on the New York City subways but that's not how the budget is structured.

So, I've said, you know, this is the time to see a plan from the Governor and from Chairman Lhota that reallocates those resources and creates real change in the MTA. And I've said very clearly, I am fully hopeful they'll do that and if they don't we will offer our own plan of how that can be done.

Question: [Inaudible] you can be doing a better job or putting you neck-in-neck with the Governor. What's your reaction to that with [inaudible] the State controls it?

Mayor: The Governor controls the MTA, the State controls the MTA. More and more people are understanding that and they are demanding answers and they are demanding results. And that's what I've been hoping for because the MTA as you know was built to be this kind of amorphous entity where no one knew quite who was in charge and to insulate it from public opinion.

It shouldn't be insulated from public opinion. The public should hold the leadership accountable and in this case it means the Governor and Chairman Lhota. I think that's the best way to get results. That's what I experience all the time in terms of things that I am entirely responsible for like schools and policing.

So, that's what I hope will come out of all this – a clarification of who is in charge and the accountability that should come with that. It doesn't surprise me there's confusion because the whole thing was built to be confusing. That's just the reality.

But more and more I think people are saying to the Governor and to the State, "Show us a plan." I think that's right. I think that's healthy.

Question: Just kind of touching on that – Lhota mentioned yesterday the idea of potentially banning certain foods on the subway. Do you have any opinion on that?

Mayor: I do. I, you know, I'm living this particular life now but from 1979 to 1999 I did not own a car and almost exclusively got around by subway. It would have been, in those years, inconceivable not to be able to eat on the subway just because of life, because we're all incredibly busy in this city, because the time on the subway is often the only time you have to eat, and you know, I don't think it's fair to people to say you can't eat on the subway.

I think it is right to say we've got to figure out how to stop the track fires from the trash on the tracks. I talked to Joe Lhota about this. I think that's a real concern and we've got to think about both education and maybe a different kind of enforcement to get people to stop throwing their trash on the tracks because talk about something that's going to bite you. You know, if someone throws trash on the tracks, they end up with a fire, and their own train's not going to come for them. That's doesn't make any sense.

So, I think we need to educate people and create some more enforcement. I think we have to, you know, in a lot of ways encourage people to not be sloppy when they're on the subway but I can't imagine, personally, the idea of people not being allowed to eat on the subway in a place as busy as this.

Question: [Inaudible] you planned to take public transportation while you're in Queens. I'm wondering if you've done that and what your plans are, and what you took, what that experience was like. And additionally, following up on that, there was an editorial in the Daily News calling on public officials including yourself to [inaudible] relying much more on subways and buses to get around just so that it ensures that politicians, people in positions of power understand what New Yorkers are going through on their commutes every day.

Mayor: So, I, of my own volition, took the 7-train at rush hour going into Queens, and I mentioned to some of you that I used to live in Flushing. So, I spent two years with the 7-train as my life-line. The 7-train was really crowded back in those years. It's really, really crowded now. And we had the sardine can-type situation when I was going out to Citi Field. And I'll keep taking mass transit while I'm here and after.

I think the bottom line is it's good to take mass transit. It's good to stay in touch. I think there has to be a cognizance of a lot is demanded of us as public officials and we got to strike a balance. I just think that's the honest truth. It's very good when I'm on the train to get a sense of what people are experiencing. And it's really good to talk to people. I also know when I'm in the car, I'm usually on a conference call or reading a memo or whatever it is that's part of my work.

So, a balance has to be struck. I think that's the honest truth. But I've always taken the subway throughout all elements of my public service and I intend to keep doing it on a pretty regular basis.

Okay, going back. First – back, back, back, back.

Question: What do you think of [inaudible] City Council [inaudible] you were colleagues with him [inaudible]?

Mayor: I have real concerns about Mr. Monserrate and the things he's said and done but I'll speak to that race more in the coming days. Jillian –

Question: Mr. Mayor, just to be more specific about the MTA and the State's budget, do you think that the MTA [inaudible] should be spending money on light shows on MTA bridges given the –

Mayor: On what?

Question: The light shows –

Mayor: What light show?

Question: The Governor has been promoting this – they're like laser light shows on the Kosciuszko Bridge and a few others – Verrazano. It seems like they're kind of expensive [inaudible] –

Mayor: Look, I'm really glad we have a new Kosciuszko Bridge because again I also spent a period of my life driving, and I lost a lot of my life on the lead-up to the Kosciuszko Bridge. I'd like those years back.

But look right now, the simplest way to put it is this. The MTA should look at everything it does and shift money and energy and resources to fixing the subway crisis in New York City. So, I don't know enough about what's happening with the light show and I can tell you people who ride the subway are not interested in the light show, they're interested in getting the trains to run on time and they're interested in being able to get to work. And that's what we should focus the resources on going forward and that's what I keep saying. Just give us a plan to do that. That's what I'm asking of the Governor and Chairman Lhota – give us a plan to take the billions of dollars in the MTA operating budget and the billions of dollars in the capital budget and reorient it to fixing the subway system. It's pretty straight forward.

Question: Mr. Mayor, I know that you've been asking for this plan for weeks. How long are you prepared to wait? I mean until – you have said, I think, the City then would come up with something.

Mayor: Yeah, look, I think a few a more weeks is fair but not a lot more than that. A few more weeks would be my answer. That's how long I'm willing – I've had good conversations with Chair Lhota. I believe he's working diligently. Obviously, he hasn't been there long but it's time, as we get into August, I'm going to want to see something. Gloria –

Question: Just to follow up on Jill's question – we have light shows on bridges, phone chargers on buses, Wi-Fi in train stations. Do you think the Governor has placed too much focus on cosmetic fixes and upgrades rather than, say, the basics of what can keep the system running?

Mayor: Yeah. We have to recognize that those things are really good but they're good if the basics of the system are working and obviously they're not. So, I never want us to take away from efforts to improve the quality of life once you're on a subway but much more important is, does that subway ever show up and does that train ever come and does it get you where you trying to go?

So, I would say those are good things but they are not the priority. Yeah –

Question: Nicole Malliotakis [inaudible] FOIL. She wants to see expense records for your out-of-city travel. Do you plan to put out those records and make them public?

Mayor: Everything is based on the same standard for the last three-and-a-half years of the NYPD, and I entirely respect the judgement of the NYPD in how they provide information related to security and what they choose not to provide. There's a reason for that and I respect that reason and it's been the same approach for three-and-a-half years. So, we'll continue with that approach.

Last call. Going once, going twice. Thanks, everyone.