TESTIMONY
Fran Garber-Cohen, President of Regina Opera Company, on the Impact of Budget Cuts on Regina Opera's Services for Senior Citizens and Low-Income Communities in Brooklyn
4:01:47
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126 sec
Fran Garber-Cohen testifies about the adverse impacts of the 5% budget cuts to culture on Regina Opera Company's ability to provide affordable and accessible cultural programming for senior citizens and low-income communities in Brooklyn.
- Regina Opera offers fully staged operas with orchestras, English supertitles, and free concerts in areas like Sunset Park and Bay Ridge.
- About 65% of Regina Opera's audience are senior citizens who cannot afford high ticket prices at major venues or travel long distances.
- The budget cuts have forced Regina Opera to cut free programming like Make Music New York and the June 10th event.
- Garber-Cohen asks the Council to reverse these cuts, which hurt small organizations serving a vital population that depends on local cultural offerings.
Fran Garber-Cohen
4:01:47
Good afternoon.
4:01:47
I'm Fran Garber Cohen, President of Regina Opera Company, which offers fully staged operas with full orchestra and English Super Titles.
4:01:57
And concerts in Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, and other local areas, many of which are low income communities.
4:02:06
As well as we do free concerts all over Brooklyn.
4:02:10
Today, I asked that New York City reversed the 5% budget cuts to culture.
4:02:15
Which have already been reversed for other agencies in the New York City budget, but not for culture and the arts.
4:02:22
We rely heavily on funding from the Department of Cultural Affairs, which allows us to provide affordable professional level entertainment in accessible venues for people who may not otherwise attend live performances.
4:02:37
About 65% of the New York City residents that attend our performances are senior citizens.
4:02:44
They cannot afford the high ticket prices at the major opera houses and many are unable to travel along distances to Manhattan.
4:02:53
Cuts in funding hurt small organizations like Regina Opera.
4:02:58
Who provide services for New York City's senior citizens a continuously growing population.
4:03:05
This important section of the population depends on us and other local groups to give performances that feature music for our aunts, our uncles, grandparents, and even our own parents.
4:03:21
Gets them out of the house where they frequently live alone.
4:03:24
At our events, senior citizens socialize, they make plans to meet their friends, they often go out for dinner before or after an opera concert, and they make new friends due to the budget cuts Regina Opera, like many other organizations, cut some free programming, including Make Music New York, and the June 10th event.
4:03:48
We are letting these people down because of the funding cuts.
4:03:51
Please help.
← Previous Chapter
Coco Killingsworth, Vice President of Creative Social Impact at BAM, on Restoring Funding for Cultural Institutions Group (CIGs) and the Cultural Development Fund (CDF)
Next Chapter →
Lisa Gold, Executive Director of the Asian American Arts Alliance, on the Inequitable Impact of Funding Cuts on Small and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Organizations
