This content was published on 12 January 2021 – 19:17
New York, Jan 12 (EFE) .- The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, presented on Tuesday a program to “bring life back” to culture, one of the engines of the state, through a public-private partnership which will offer performances by renowned outdoor artists and a plan to finance groups in the sector.
In his annual “state of the state” speech, which he delivered over several days, the Democratic leader recalled that “New York is not New York without Broadway” and pointed out the high unemployment rate among actors, dancers and musicians, some of the professions in this sector severely affected by the covid-19 pandemic.
“We can’t wait for the summer to turn the lights back on to the arts and give artists a living wage,” Cuomo said before announcing the “Revive the Arts in New York” program.
As explained, the state will collaborate with the artistic community to organize “pop-up” or ephemeral performances in parks and other public spaces as of February 4, an initiative to which figures such as the actors Amy Schumer and Hugh Jackman, the humorist Chris Rock, the opera singer Reneé Fleming or the musician Wynton Marsalis.
Cuomo has also indicated that a plan has been put in place to employ a thousand artists and finance dozens of artists’ organizations, and maintains that a city loses “much of its appeal” without the activity that characterizes it.
Broadway, the iconic theater center of New York City, has been closed for months and does not plan to raise the curtains until May, while museums, art galleries and other spaces have been opening with limited capacity.
The governor is revealing his legislative agenda for the year this week and yesterday stressed that the main objective is to “defeat covid-19” and fuel the economic recovery of the state, which in spring became the epicenter of the pandemic.
In that regard, Cuomo said that mass rapid coronavirus tests can support the reopening of entertainment activities and the return of workers to offices, and the state is working on installing new “pop-up” test sites.
Among other measures, today the Democrat has proposed requiring internet providers an affordable service for low-income families and thus closing the digital divide; and transforming commercial spaces such as hotels and offices that have been left empty into accommodation for the homeless. EFE
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