Culture
NYC Has More Artists Than Ever
But artists are being pushed out of some of the city’s long-standing creative neighborhoods.
A couple of years ago, legendary Talking Heads frontman David Byrne wrote in a column: “If the 1% stifles New York’s talent I’m out of here.” For poet and songstress Patti Smith, “New York has closed itself off to the young and the struggling.” Her advice to the next generation: “Find a new city.”
There is little doubt that New York has become prohibitively expensive for many artists, young and old alike, just as it has for middle-class people and working-class families, never mind the poor and truly disadvantaged. But according to a study released last week by the New York-based Center for an Urban Future (CUF), the city is actually home to more artists than ever.