Yesterday was the City Council’s final budget hearing at 10:00 a.m. You have up to 72 hours after the hearing to submit written testimony. Let's make sure arts and culture gets the relief and support it needs! 

Dance/NYC is joining colleague arts and culture entities and advocates in requesting that the City: 

• Implements the Cultural Plan for Recovery (CPR), which equitably invests 70 million dollars in the arts and cultural sector to best reach those people, programs, and organizations who need support and can lead the sector forward. 
• Establish an artist registry to be used as a mechanism to communicate with, collect data from, and to support art workers going forward. 
• Revise and extend the NYC Artists Corps to create ongoing workforce support for art workers.

 

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NATIONAL 

 

1. Updates on Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) Program. Applicants are encouraged to complete and submit their applications as soon as possible because according to the SBA, funding is still available. The application portal will remain open for the duration of the program. The SBA released a FAQ for After Application Submittal and Before Award Notification (effective May 11). The SBA also released instructional materials for submitting the IRS 4506-T form for the SVOG Program, the form that provides permission to the SBA to access tax return information of applicants.

2. Register for the Dance/USA 2021 Virtual Conference June 14-16! Conference programming is shaped around topics of equity and justice, community and collaboration, responding to COVID-19 now and in the future, preservation and legacy, and more. The multi-day virtual experience will include timely panels, movement classes, networking opportunities, and more. Registration closes on June 4 at 5:00 p.m.

3. The White House released a disability policy first 100 days fact sheet, reflecting their priorities for and impact on the disability community.

 

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NEW YORK STATE

 

1. A Place at the Table campaign. Dance/NYC, Nonprofit New York and coalition partners have successfully worked with Assembymember González-Rojas and Senator Biaggi to introduce legislation to lift the administrative burden for legislative advocacy.  A6943/S6398 would raise the State's "lobbying threshold" to $10,000. The bill sponsors are working to build co-sponsorship and need a strong showing of support from the sector. Please sign on to support this legislation today.  

2. Join Dance Artists National Collective (DANC) on June 7 in Albany to rally to support the NY Health Act. Please continue to call your reps often and join the Campaign for NY Health every Monday and Thursday at 6:00 p.m. for a phone bank. Sign up here. 

3. Make Arts Education a Core Subject in New York State. New York City Arts in Education Roundtable is asking everyone to contact their elected officials to support S4525 and A1788. These bills would put arts education on par with other required New York State education curriculum subjects. Use the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable website to send letters to your elected officials.  

4. Governor Cuomo signed a new law that blocks debt collectors from stimulus funds. Learn more here.  

5. The moratorium on disconnecting utilities is extended until the COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted or until December 31. Governor Cuomo signed legislation extending a moratorium that prevents utility companies from disconnecting utilities to residential households and small businesses that are struggling with their bills due to pandemic-related hardship. 

 

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NEW YORK CITY

 

1. Apply to GREEN / ARTS LIVE NYC before May 28. This program will provide microgrants, subsidized production support, and other guidance for artists to put on free live outdoor shows throughout the five boroughs this year. 

2. COVID-19 Updates 

• As of May 19, New York State adopted the new CDC guidance. 
• New York will participate in the federal partnership with Uber and Lyft to help vaccinate New Yorkers offering free rides to and from vaccination sites from May 24 to July 4.
• The Broadway Vaccination Site (ATC Vaccination Times Square) for arts and cultural workers is now taking appointment requests online or by calling 877-829-4692. The Actors Fund is supporting making appointments. Call 917-281-5937 or email vaccines@actorsfund.org.
• Find other vaccination locations and make appointments online at vaccinefinder.nyc.gov or by calling 877-VAX4NYC or 833-NYC-4VAX for assistance in multiple languages. For the latest information, please consult the City’s Vaccine Command Center and State's website. All City-run sites now accept walk-ins for all above 12 years old, no appointment needed. 
• The statewide positivity rate was 1.02% and 62.7.% of New Yorkers have had at least one vaccination dose.  
• Download the COVID Alert NY app and Excelsior App today! 
• Remember to follow the “core four”—wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing, stay home if you’re sick—and get tested! For information on free testing, personal protective equipment, and more, visit the NYC Mayor's Office Coronavirus page.
 

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UPCOMING ELECTIONS 

 

1. The deadline to register to vote in New York is May 28. 

2. Join New Yorkers for Culture and Arts for a nonpartisan City Council Candidate Forum on culture and arts tomorrow May 27 at 6:00 p.m. Candidates from Queens Districts 19, 20, 27, 31 will be present. Register here. 

3. NYC primaries will use ranked choice voting. You can rank up to 5 candidates in order of preference. Here are some resources to learn more about ranked choice voting:

• NYC Civic Engagement Commission
• Vote NYC
• NYC Votes

 

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Dance/NYC 

1. Take the Dance/NYC Coronavirus Dance Impact Part 3 Closing Friday May 28! Help Dance/NYC continue to advocate for your needs. If you are a dance worker or dance making organization, please take the Coronavirus Dance Impact Survey part 3 today. The survey should take about 15 minutes of your time. If you are an individual dance worker and also run an organization or fiscally sponsored group you are welcome to take both to ensure your experiences are represented in the data. You can take this survey whether or not you have participated in previous surveys. Please share with your networks using this toolkit. 
 

CORONAVIRUS DANCE IMPACT SURVEY PART 3

 

2. Engaging in community action in support of dance workers? Submit to be listed on the #ArtistsAreNecessaryWorkers Campaign Activations page. Visit the page for events, actions, and platforms that are independently led by the NYC dance community. 

3. UPDATE: Dance/NYC Field-Wide call is moving to bi-weekly. On tomorrow’s call Lucy Sexton from New Yorkers for Culture and Arts will share advocacy updates this week and Chelsea Ainsworth from Arts on Site will provide insight on their COVID protocols and reopening. The call addresses questions, needs, and plans for the future of the field. Calls are on alternating Thursdays from 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Be sure to register.

4. For the ongoing Coronavirus Dance Impact Study, Dance/NYC is tracking studio & company temporary and permanent closures to gain a better understanding of the financial impact of the pandemic on the dance sector. This data will be used to document this historic time and to advocate to policymakers for aid. Please email any closures that you know of in the dance community to research@dance.nyc. You do not need to be in charge of the organization to send a notification as Dance/NYC works to compile a list of closures.