The Manhattan borough president\u2019s office announced on Tuesday that it is spending its $50 million discretionary budget on renovation projects inside local museums, arts education in public schools and other cultural initiatives.<\/p>\n
In previous years, the discretionary budget has been divided into small grants that flow across sectors like the arts, public housing, social services and parks. The borough\u2019s current president, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, said that his decision to commit the entire allocation to cultural programming was partly inspired by President Trump\u2019s threats to cut federal funding<\/a> for the arts.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the importance of arts and culture to our society, to the economy and to future generations of Manhattanites and New Yorkers,\u201d Hoylman-Sigal said in a phone interview. \u201cWe think this is a boost of morale for the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n Fifty-five cultural institutions and 28 schools will benefit from grants ranging from $60,000 to $2 million. The Metropolitan Opera, for example, will receive $500,000 to update its fly system that hoists and lowers scenery onto the stage. The Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts will receive just as much to update art spaces that haven\u2019t been renovated in 40 years.<\/p>\n Other groups to receive funding include the Center for Jewish History, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Museum of Chinese in America, Roundabout Theater Company and the Juilliard School.<\/p>\n The Museums Special Section<\/p>\n \u201cGetting extra support from grants like this is a vote of confidence,\u201d said Casey York, managing director of Playwrights Horizons, which received $250,000 to build a backstage elevator for accessibility. Receiving this portion of the elevator\u2019s estimated $1.5 million budget from the city will help convince other organizations to fund the remainder of the project, York said.<\/p>\n Hoylman-Sigal is calling the program \u201cManhattan Multiplier,\u201d because the grants are meant to encourage matching donations. So far, recipients have raised nearly $12 million based on the city\u2019s initial investments. The borough president said that Manhattan is at a disadvantage when it comes to citywide discretionary funds because the money is allocated through the City Charter to take into account nighttime population and land mass. That leaves Manhattan with a discretionary budget roughly equal to that of Staten Island, while Brooklyn receives $99.3 million and Queens receives $115.1 million. The Bronx receives $55.7 million.<\/p>\n