De Blasio’s New Budget Would Decimate New York Theaters Already Reeling From Pandemic

As America’s unemployment claims soared past 22 million, New York mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a revised budget for the coming fiscal year, hoping to mitigate some of the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The new $89.3 billion plan, which still needs City Council approval, is $6 billion smaller than the one initially floated in January. This accounts for steep losses in the city’s tax revenue, and includes severe cuts across the board to balance the books.

At particular risk are the city’s arts institutions, including hundreds of theater companies supporting New York’s status as America’s cultural hub. After years of flush coffers, the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), which allocates public funding for such organizations, will see its budget slashed by $75.4 million – a 35% reduction from the previous year.

While some of this cost will be passed on to larger, more secure institutions like the Met and the Botanical Garden, the lion’s share – $54 million, to be precise – will fall on smaller outfits, ones for whom DCLA support plays a much larger role.

“Most of our members rely on DCLA funding, and for many of them it’s their largest grant,” says Ginny Louloudes, executive director of A.R.T./NY, a service organization that supports over 400 theater companies in the five boroughs. “This is really, really bad. For everyone.”

These theaters all draw from the same funding sub-pool, labeled “Cultural Programs” in the DCLA’s budget. The initial January proposal had already cut away millions compared to the prior year, when it had $84 million to allocate. If the new revisions are approved, that pool will shrink even further, to just $29 million – a reduction of almost two-thirds.

How much the DCLA contributes to a given nonprofit differs on a case-by-case basis. Depending on a theater’s other funding sources, a 65% reduction in city money may be a manageable loss. For others, it’s a deep, deep cut – especially since they can’t count on box office revenue during the pandemic.

“We were expecting around $200,000 in government support overall,” says Meredith Lynsey Schade, a Tony-winning producer and the producing director of HERE, an award-winning downtown theater. “That’s a lot when you’re a small organization. That’s many of our staff members’ salaries for the year.”

Since March 12th, Broadway has been dark, and nearly all the smaller theaters in town have followed suit. The Broadway League, one of the industry’s trade organizations, set a hopeful re-opening date of June 7th, which is all but guaranteed to be pushed back further, possibly into next winter. A recent survey by Shugoll Research, a national marketing research firm, showed that even if theaters re-opened this summer, only 25% of ticket buyers would feel safe seeing a show.

“Our top priorities are simple,” de Blasio said of the new budget proposal. “We will keep people safe, protect their health, make sure there is a roof over their head and that food is on their table.”

It’s difficult to fault such priorities. While New York may take pride in being America’s cultural mecca, it has also become the nation’s coronavirus epicenter, and supporting healthcare and housing is paramount.

However, the arts aren’t some glitzy barnacle clinging to the Good Ship NYC. They represent a significant piece of the city’s economy, and workforce. According to League research reports, Broadway alone accounts for almost $14 billion in economic impact each year, and supports 87,000 jobs, both directly and in ancillary business like hotels and restaurants, which thrive off the tourist traffic; 14.6 million people attended a Broadway show in 2019.

Many of those jobs will be among the 500,000 lost by September, if the city’s projections hold up. And that’s just Broadway. The 400+ smaller theaters often partner with local bars, restaurants, and hotels, becoming community hubs in their own right, and employing thousands of full-time, part-time, and freelance workers.

If the budget is passed as is, it will functionally decimate a key pillar of the city’s economic and cultural fabric, and sound the death knell for a multitude of small institutions.

Representatives for the DCLA and city government did not respond to a request for comment.