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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Ariel Savransky, Director of Government and Community Relations at 92nd Street Y
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Ariel Savransky from the 92nd Street Y testified about their organization's arts education programs and their impact on New York City public school students. The testimony highlighted the importance of ensuring equity and access to high-quality arts and culture programming for diverse communities across all five boroughs.
- 92nd Street Y reaches over 7,000 public school students and teachers through various arts programs, including CASA awards and Teen Arts Week.
- The organization provides subsidies and scholarships to ensure cost is not a barrier to participation, with 80% of partner schools having Title I status.
- Their programs include creative movement classes, dance and music exploration, workforce development initiatives, and opportunities for students to engage with professional artists.
Ariel Savransky
4:17:17
afternoon.
4:17:18
Thank you chairs Rivera and Joseph for the opportunity to testify today.
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My name is Ariel Severanski.
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I'm the director of government and community relations at the ninety second Street Y.
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We are a nonprofit cultural and community center in Manhattan.
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Since ninety second Street Y's founding more than one hundred and fifty years ago, we have offered services for people of diverse racial, religious, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.
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By offering scholarships, subsidies, and opportunities for New York City Public School Students to attend events at ninety second Street Y, we ensure that all people can participate in our programming.
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I want to start out by saying thank you to the council for our eight CASA awards, one of which is in council member Rivera's district.
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PS one hundred 16, we provide a creative movement class for kindergarteners and first graders.
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These enable us to reach kids who otherwise would not have access to after school programs.
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Our arts programs reach over 7,000 public school students and teachers across all five boroughs.
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Programming provides opportunities for in-depth classroom visits from top teaching artists and innovative curriculum design, interaction with 90 Second Street Y main stage talent from around the world, and unparalleled access to professional internships and other early career opportunities.
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Arts programming includes opportunities for elementary school students to explore a variety of dance and music genres, opportunities for high school students to attend live concerts or readings at 90 Second Street Rye for free and interact with the featured artists, a series of workforce development programs, and Teen Arts Week, which is a citywide annual celebration of the arts created for teens by teens.
4:19:02
This past March, so a few weeks ago, we had 45 cultural institutions across all five boroughs offer classes, workshops, and performances for over a thousand teens throughout the city, and some of those organizations were represented here today.
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Ninety second Street Y has built strong collaborations with our schools through proactively engaging with principals, teachers, and arts liaisons, and understands their unique needs.
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Partial or full subsidies are provided to most participating schools, ensuring that cost is not a barrier to participation.
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Approximately 80% of the FY 25 partner schools have title one status, and over 70% of students come from families living in poverty.
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Ensuring equity and access is integral to our mission, and we look forward to continuing to work with the New York City Council to ensure that all New Yorkers can access high quality arts and culture programming.
4:19:57
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.