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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Margo Cohen Ristorucci, Public Programs Manager at Brooklyn Museum and Member of DC 37 Local 1502
4:13:27
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Margo Cohen Ristorucci, a public programs manager at the Brooklyn Museum and member of DC 37 Local 1502, testifies about recent layoff attempts at the museum and their impact on public programming. She highlights the importance of workers in creating valuable art experiences and community gatherings, particularly through programs like First Saturdays.
- The Brooklyn Museum recently attempted to lay off 47 workers, breaching union contracts.
- The museum has canceled two months of First Saturday events and is reducing other low-cost public programming.
- The proposed layoffs would reduce the public programs team from four to two full-time producers, making it difficult to continue current programming levels.
- Ristorucci asks for financial support to avoid layoffs and sustain free and low-cost public programming.
Margo Cohen Ristorucci
4:13:27
Echoing June and Maribel I want to extend gratitude to chair Rivera and your fellow committee members for the space to advocate on behalf of local fifteen o two of DC thirty seven.
4:13:38
My name is Margo and I'm the public programs manager at the Brooklyn Museum.
4:13:42
I was born and raised in Brooklyn.
4:13:44
I'm an alumni of a New York City public high school I'm a current graduate student at the City University of New York.
4:13:50
I've been working at the museum since 02/2014 and I'm a member of our executive board and local fifteen o two and also our clerical shop steward.
4:13:59
In the past week since management attempted to lay off 47 of our indispensable colleagues in an unprecedented fashion that breached both active union contracts, what has given me the most strength and purpose is organizing alongside fellow union members and neighbors throughout Brooklyn who understand intrinsically that the value of spaces like the Brooklyn Museum comes down to its people.
4:14:23
The people whose labor makes art experiences and community gatherings possible and also the people who come through our doors and imbue the museum with meaning.
4:14:32
As the manager of public programs, I've had the distinct honor of collaborating with artists and community organizations to produce live music, dance parties, performances, workshops, community forums, artist talks, and literary readings.
4:14:45
Our flagship program, First Saturdays, was founded more than twenty seven years ago to open the museum's doors to the public.
4:14:52
Since then, it has become a beloved community staple, bringing 10 to 15,000 people to the museum for a night of free programming on the first Saturday of the month.
4:15:01
I am devastated to share that the museum canceled two months of first Saturday in the wake of announced layoffs, and similarly is reducing relevant low cost public programming that serves families, seniors, and adults of all ages in the next fiscal year.
4:15:15
The museum's proposed layoff intended to reduce our public programs team, which is comprised of only four full time unionized producers who organize nearly a hundred programs a year to only two.
4:15:28
The museum did not explain how they expect two producers to oversee a dozen simultaneous performances and programs as we often do on First Saturdays.
4:15:35
We cannot continue to produce the programming that has become so important to us and to our neighbors without workers.
4:15:42
I'll just finish.
4:15:43
The Brooklyn Museum is attempting to close a deficit created by management, created by years of flagrant financial negligence on the backs of unionized workers.
4:15:52
I ask that you consider financial support so that we may avoid layoffs and continue to sustain the free and low cost public programming that our communities depend upon.
4:16:02
Thank you.