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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Norah Yahya, Senior Government Affairs Officer at Metropolitan Museum of Art
3:56:36
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131 sec
Norah Yahya from the Metropolitan Museum of Art expressed gratitude for the $45 million baseline increase in the executive budget for cultural institutions, while advocating for an additional $30 million to address inflation and sustainability needs. She highlighted the Met's ongoing challenges, including shifts in visitor demographics and revenue sources post-pandemic.
- The Met had 5.6 million visitors last year, with 2.5 million being New Yorkers who typically don't generate significant revenue due to the pay-as-you-wish policy.
- International visitors, particularly from Asia, have not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, impacting the museum's revenue.
- Geopolitical tensions are affecting visitor numbers from key markets like Canada, Mexico, and the EU.
Norah Yahya
3:56:36
I'm Nora Yaya, the senior government affairs officer at the Met Museum and the Manhattan Vice Chair of the cultural institutions group.
3:56:43
Thank you chair Brannan, chair Rivera, and our council member Gail Brewer for the opportunity to testify today.
3:56:49
I'm gonna skip some of the history here, and first just say thank you for this historic recognition, and the value that you recognize that culture was bringing to our city by baselining the 45,000,000 in the executive budget.
3:57:02
As a former finance analyst, I remember seeing the budget decimated, so this is truly historic and a profound moment for us, and I'm glad I'm here to see this symbolic investment.
3:57:13
In addition to that, I just want to continue to advocate for the additional $30,000,000 that we are looking for in the budget adoption.
3:57:21
We are grateful for the 45,000,000, but it does not account for the inflation and the things that we need in order to be sustainable and provide all the services that our cultural institutions provide across the city.
3:57:32
Like many of our peer institutions, the Met continues to face lasting challenges brought on by the pandemic and subsequent global and economic disruptions.
3:57:40
While we are heartened by the resurgence of tourism, the landscape has shifted.
3:57:44
So for example, the Met has last year 5,600,000 visitors, two and a half million of which were New Yorkers.
3:57:51
We are a pay as you wish institution.
3:57:53
You can come in, you can pay a penny, or you can pay $5 up to your choice.
3:57:57
Our New Yorkers are not, our visitors that generate revenue for us, it's our international visitors, and not only has that number not rebounded from the pandemic, it shifted and changed.
3:58:07
With the war in Ukraine, it's made traveling from Asia even more difficult.
3:58:12
We have completely lost our Asian market, and they were some of our biggest spenders quite frankly in the museum.
3:58:17
In addition to that, with tensions now with Canada, Mexico, and the EU, it's already having a chilling effect on travel, real concerns for our future audiences, so we're already starting to see a decrease in visitation from our Canadian visitors, which is really frightening for us and what the future looks like for our revenue.
3:58:36
I will just close by again thanking you all in this moment of both profound challenge and great potential, we ask for your continued support and understanding that the arts are not a luxury, but they are essential to the city.