You are reading

Council Member Van Bramer Wants to Make “Open Culture” Program Permanent

A February Open Culture performance in Brooklyn (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Sept. 14, 2021 By Allie Griffin

Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer wants to make a pandemic-era program that allows performers to host ticketed events on city streets a permanent fixture in the city.

Van Bramer introduced a bill last week to make the temporary “Open Culture” permit program permanent and year-round. The Council’s Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Intergroup Relations will be hearing the bill today.

The council member first introduced the program — modeled after the city’s “Open Restaurants” outdoor dining plan — last year when traditional performance venues were forced to close their doors due to the pandemic.

The program — which allows eligible artists to perform ticketed concerts, plays, comedy and other events on city streets and at various public spaces — began in March and is set to expire at the end of next month.

Van Bramer’s bill would extend the program to be year-round and permanent.

The bill also aims to increase the number of streets and outdoor venues where artists are permitted to hold events. The program, in its current form, has a finite list of streets and public spaces—as determined by the Department of Transportation (DOT)–where artists are allowed to perform.

“By making the Open Culture program a permanent fixture in New York City, we will not only provide an additional lifeline for our artists, performers and vital cultural organizations, it will also create an exciting new norm for diverse performances throughout the city,” Van Bramer said.

The legislation would also create a new annual reporting requirement to evaluate the benefits and challenges of the Open Culture program.

The program, Van Bramer said, has become a vital tool for cultural institutions, performance venues, and artists to share their work with the public and earn revenue. About 220 permits have been granted to artists and arts organizations since the program’s inception.

Artists who perform on streets are able to charge patrons for tickets to watch their acts.

“The Open Culture Program has been a much-needed lifeline, not just for the smallest performing arts organizations and the independent artists of this city, but for the communities they serve who find a safe respite, an opportunity for joy and a space for connection through the live arts of the Open Culture Program,” Aimee Todoroff, Managing Director, The League of Independent Theater said.

“It is imperative that the Open Culture Program is made permanent, is expanded, and is supported by robust city funding and outreach.”

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Advocates pen letter blasting Mayor Adams’ legal motion to suspend right-to-shelter

Homeless advocates penned a letter to a Manhattan Supreme Court judge opposing Mayor Eric Adams’ recent legal motion calling for the suspension of the city’s decades-old right-to-shelter law amid the ongoing migrant influx.

The letter, sent last Thursday and released Tuesday, comes in response to Adams last week filing a court motion to exempt the city from its legal mandate — established by the 1984 Callahan v. Carey consent decree — to provide shelter to single adults and adult couples when it “lacks the resources and capacity” to do so. The mayor and top administration officials say they’re not seeking to abolish the right-to-shelter, but rather “clarity” from the court that would give them more “flexibility” in finding suitable housing for tens of thousands of migrants.

Rockaway’s piping plovers among endangered species commemorated on U.S. Postal Service stamps

A day before the city reopened nearly 70 blocks of public beaches along the Rockaway peninsula for the Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. Postal Service and National Park Service hosted a special event at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel to honor the piping plover, an endangered shorebird featured on new stamps.

In attendance were members of the NYC Plover Project, a nonprofit with more than 250 volunteers, who have been on the beaches since March preparing for the summer swim season, who celebrated the newly released stamp sheet commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

Bayside High School hosts annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair

Bayside High School hosted its annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair Friday. Students from the Career and Technical Education Humanities and Nonprofit Management program each pitched their socially responsible products to students, staff and others in attendance.

Each of the 11th grade students in the program have been taking a college credit course from Farmingdale State College called Social Entrepreneur. The students were divided into 17 groups of five and tasked with coming up with innovative ideas to create businesses while also being socially responsible. The Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair grants them with the opportunity to work on pitching their products to potential customers.

Annual Memorial Day ceremony held at Korean War memorial in Kissena Park

On Friday, May 26, the second annual Memorial Day Ceremony in Kissena Park brought live music, local dignitaries, veterans groups, a presentation of the Colors by members of the Francis Lewis High School JROTC, a flower-laying ceremony and more to the Flushing community.

Those in attendance included Councilwoman Sandra Ung, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, state Senator John Liu, veterans groups, local students, Boy Scout Troop 253 and others.

Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade honors fallen heroes

Rain or shine, the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, touted as the largest Memorial Day parade in the United States, has been a staple of the quaint Queens neighborhoods since 1927. Thousands lined the parade route under clear blue sky along Northern Boulevard from Jayson Avenue in Great Neck to 245th Street in Douglaston on May 29 to honor the brave men and women who answered their call to service and made the ultimate sacrifice while defending their country.

Many onlookers sporting patriotic attire waved Old Glory and cheered on the parade of military vehicles, veteran and military groups and marching bands led by Grand Marshal Vice Admiral Joanna M Nunan, the first female commander of the United States Merchant Marine Academy. This year’s parade marshals were retired Master Sergeant Lawrence Badia and Vietnam veteran Richard Weinberg.