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Q&A
DCLA's approval process for admission fee increases
0:38:46
ยท
88 sec
Lance Polivy, General Counsel for DCLA, explains the agency's role in approving admission fee increases for cultural institutions and how this process is used to ensure continued accessibility.
- Any increase in admission fees for CIG members must be approved by DCLA
- This approval process is a tool to maintain conversations about free and accessible programming
- When institutions apply for fee increases, DCLA asks about plans to keep programming accessible to New Yorkers who need it most
- The Brooklyn Museum has not applied for an admission fee increase
- The discussion touches on the loss of corporate sponsorship for programs like First Saturdays, highlighting changes in philanthropic giving
Lance Polivy
0:38:46
Madam Chair, let me give you a a good example.
0:38:48
Mhmm.
0:38:49
So Brooklyn Museum is pay as you wish.
0:38:52
If they wanted to increase and say that now everyone has to pay $10 to come to the museum, any increase in your admission fee has to be approved by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:39:04
Mhmm.
Lance Polivy
0:39:04
So that's one tool at our disposal Mhmm.
0:39:06
That we can use to have conversations about free and accessible programming.
0:39:10
Mhmm.
0:39:10
And it's exactly what we do whenever we get an application for an increase is Mhmm.
0:39:14
Okay, you wanna increase your fee for admission for folks coming to your institution?
0:39:19
What are you going to do to make your programming free and accessible to New Yorkers who need it most?
0:39:24
Mhmm.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:39:25
When there are considerations like the ones we're discussing today where there's gonna be layoffs, significant layoffs.
0:39:31
Right?
0:39:32
There is wiggle room or flexibility in that conversation because they've gotten to a crisis point at this point.
Lance Polivy
0:39:41
Well, they haven't come to us with an application to increase their admission fee.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
0:39:45
Okay.
Lance Polivy
0:39:46
Eliminating First Saturdays is devastating for the community, for New York City, for all of those that enjoy it.
0:39:53
A good point about First Saturdays though is that they used to have a corporate sponsorship.
0:39:58
It used to be the name of a corporation, First Saturdays.
0:40:00
Mhmm.
0:40:01
And that left several years ago.
0:40:03
That's one of that's a really concrete example and a good way to understand and capture what this change in philanthropic giving from corporations, the impact that it's having on the ground.