New York Looks to House its Artists

(Instead of these artists fleeing to Philadelphia or Berlin, why couldn't they come to Hackensack??)

New York Looks to House its Artists

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had some welcome news for the city’s artists this month: as part of his administration’s broader affordable housing agenda, he announced that the city will build 1,500 new affordable live-work spaces for artists and 500 below-market work-spaces. New York’s rising rents are taking a toll on artists, and for decades the city’s creative types have threatened to decamp to the Big Apple’s sunny rival to the west, or if not there then perhaps Philadelphia or Berlin. Given that it’s been forty-five years since dedicated artist housing was built in the city, de Blasio’s announcement will be seen as long overdue. (Perhaps New Yorkers have Lena Dunham and David Byrne to thank for the renewed attention to the matter.) And yet, although affordable housing is de Blasio’s top priority for 2015, these 1,500 units won’t be completed until 2025. Instead, the administration plans to build 150 units each year for the next decade. With more than 140,00 artists purportedly living in the city — a whopping 53,000 of them applied for 89 spots at El Barrio’s Artspace PS109 last summer — is it too little too late?

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