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AGENCY TESTIMONY
Economic pressures on cultural organizations and conclusion
2:22:18
ยท
58 sec
Commissioner Cumbo concludes her testimony by addressing the economic challenges facing cultural organizations in New York City and emphasizing the need for collaborative solutions.
- Cultural organizations are facing increased costs due to inflation.
- Audience numbers have not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
- Tourism, while recovering, has taken years to approach pre-pandemic heights.
- Several major cultural institutions have recently announced layoffs due to these challenges.
- The commissioner acknowledges that the city alone cannot tackle these systemic challenges and calls for collaboration with the council and partners across sectors to identify lasting solutions.
Laurie Cumbo
2:22:18
Meanwhile, our arts and cultural organizations are confronting drastically increased costs from inflation.
2:22:24
Audiences have yet to return in the same numbers they did before the pandemic.
2:22:29
Even our tourism numbers, while we've come a long way toward their recovery, have taken years to return to their pre pandemic heights.
2:22:37
As a result, organizations across the city and beyond are being forced to make painful decisions.
2:22:43
In just the last few weeks, number of cultural major cultural institution institutions have announced layoffs as they struggle to address these tremendous challenges.
2:22:52
In recent years, this trend has left no discipline untouched.
2:22:56
We're proud of our historic levels of support for the sector, but the city can't tackle these large systemic challenges alone.
2:23:03
We look forward to working with the council and partners across sectors to face these problems and to identify lasting solutions together.
2:23:11
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
2:23:13
I'm happy to answer any questions you have.