Being Blog

Anand Giridharadas‘ New York Times article, “Is New York Only for the Successful?“ was written like he sat in on the many happy hours and coffee dates that I have had with friends over the last year.  This topic is one that is discussed frequently among my friends and on my mind a lot as I embark on creating a new path. It’s something that I think resonates with anyone who is exploring a creative career in New York City. The changes that have engulfed New York City over the last ten years are visible and undeniable. You can argue whether or not they have benefited the city and it’s inhabitants, but it is also important to consider how these changes will have a lasting effect on what the city will become.

New York is known as a mecca for someone to come and follow their American dream. Yet, that is becoming harder and harder to do if you are in a creative industry or trying to create something for yourself. Giridharadas quotes an interview with musician Patti Smith, who came to NYC in 1967, in which she gave the following advice to aspiring creatives: “New York has closed itself off to the young and the struggling…But there are other cities: Detroit, Poughkeepsie…New York City has been taken away from you. So my advice is: Find a new city.” And many are taking her advice as the city is beginning to see an exodus of its creative population. At a recent Scott Stringer campaign event Lena Dunham, creator of the series Girls, told the crowd, “If they struggle for too long, they’re leaving New York for Seattle, Chicago, Austin, and in some cases, even Tampa. We can’t have our generation’s Patti Smith moving to Tampa. That’s going to seriously f*ck our shit up.”

The reality is that the average rent even in Brooklyn recently hit $3000! As Liz Lemon, one of New York’s greatest, would say, “What the what?!” As I would say, “Are you f’ing kidding me?” How is anyone supposed to afford their American dream with those kind of expenses? On top of this, a recent study published in the National Academy of Sciences journal polled more than 450,000 Americans over two years to find out if money can buy happiness.  They found that beyond an annual income of $75,000, income increase has little measurable effect on happiness level. Yet, when translated to account for city-specific incomes based on cost-of-living index values, it equates to $163,500 a year for New Yorkers (the highest in the country). How many aspiring artists, dancers, musicians, entrepreneurs, etc. are making this? I’d say probably not many at all.

Of course life isn’t all about money – New York City provides so many other things that motivate and drive the creative population, but will these components continue to exist as the city becomes less and less affordable? As we lose the grit and any ease in living here, what else are we losing? When an artist has to work three jobs just to pay the rent that they share with two other people, when is s/he ever getting the chance to actually create?

With all this in mind – what is the creative community doing to address this problem? Is it possible to fight the money monsters that are real estate developers? Is it a matter of working with them to ensure that the creative community is being factored into the development in a genuine and constructive way? I had a little piece of hope yesterday when I read about the construction and opening of Spaceworks in Long Island City. The purpose of Spaceworks is to offer artists long-term and affordable rehearsal and visual art studios throughout the city. As Eun Young Choi, the program director at the New York Art Residency & Studio Foundation (NARS), pointed out, the space will “let artists focus more on their work and less on scrounging for money to cover ever-increasing studio rent.” Will structures like Spaceworks be the answer from turning New York into nothing more then a playground for the rich?