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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by DJ McDonald, Representative of Dance Parade
5:08:37
ยท
150 sec
DJ McDonald, representing Dance Parade, testifies about the importance of cultural investment in New York City, particularly in light of recent immigrant arrivals. He emphasizes the city's history of cultural infusion and invites council members to the upcoming Dance Parade event.
- Highlights the arrival of over 230,000 immigrants to NYC since spring 2022
- Discusses the need to invest in the city's "transformative cultural inheritance"
- Advocates for increased funding, requesting $75 million for cultural initiatives
DJ McDonald
5:08:37
Good afternoon, chair Rivera.
5:08:39
Always a pleasure to see you.
5:08:41
Good afternoon, staff.
5:08:43
Thank you for allowing me to testify today.
5:08:46
I'm DJ McDonald.
5:08:47
I represent the dance parade.
5:08:51
Last week, the New York Times reported that more than 230,000 immigrants migrants have arrived in New York City since spring twenty twenty two and become our new neighbors.
5:09:04
Though their arrival may have been more port authority than Statue Of Liberty, they challenge us.
5:09:12
They challenge us as a community, as a city, as neighbors, in familiar ways that are never assured.
5:09:21
But they add just the latest verse in a song of cultural infusion that goes back at least 400 here.
5:09:28
As New Yorkers, we claim pride in the city's tidal restlessness and its ability to drink in the rivers of humanity and give back to the world creative responses in their suffusion that often reimagines traditional forms and transmutes its alloys into brilliant gold.
5:09:47
Thus, they become part of the city's world beating cultural economy.
5:09:53
I believe it's imperative, especially at this time, to invest in the shared vision manifest in our collective transformative cultural inheritance.
5:10:05
And I invite you all, all of you here, to experience an embodied version of what I mean when you join 10,000 plus other dancers from the globe spanning mosaic of city life, and me, beginning at noon on Saturday, May 17 in the nineteenth century, only in New York City, dance parade and dance fest that you helped make possible and make free to all New Yorkers, new and old, and their families and visitors alike.
5:10:39
As grateful as we all remain for the support of the city, I know you understand the math, you gave us 99 to one.
5:10:46
I'll give you one of these.
5:10:48
George Washington on the front.
5:10:50
Oh, Book of Mormon, Utah on the back.
5:10:53
1 quarter to a hundred dollar Benjamin bill, that's what we're asking for at the $75,000,000 level, and I thank you for continuing to restore in what the city produces for around the world.