NYC NOW - October 5, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: October 5, 2023

Justice advocates say incarcerated people at Rikers Island are increasingly "isolated" and "idle" after millions in recent program cuts. Also, movie actor Julia Ormond is suing former producer Harvey Weinstein for sexual assault after an incident in 1995. Plus, 60-year-old Salvatore Vassallo of Jersey Shore was sentenced to 18 months for his role in the January 6 Capitol riot. Recently, after New York City Mayor Eric Adams unveiled the “Live Performance Industry Council” emphasizing the city’s commitment to the arts, WNYC pulled together Anna Glass, Executive Director of Dance Theatre of Harlem; Casey York, President of The Off-Broadway League and Managing Director of Ars Nova; and Jake Rosenthal, Co-Founder and CMO of Elsewhere, to discuss the industry’s comeback with Sean Carlson at The Green Space.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Thursday, October 5th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Justice advocates say incarcerated people at Rikers Island are increasingly isolated and idle after millions in recent program cuts. In June, the Department of Correction ended $17 million worth of programs from community providers. to help detainees get jobs, find housing, and stay off drugs. That was after the mayor ordered citywide budget cuts.

The DOC says it's taken over the programs, and detainees still have access to most programming. Movie actor Julia Orman is suing former producer Harvey Weinstein for sexual assault. WN.C.'s Charles Lane has the story. According to the lawsuit, Weinstein went to Orman's Manhattan apartment in 1995 after a business meeting and then sexually assaulted her. Ormond is best known for her 1990s films, Legends of the Fall and First Night. She sued Weinstein using a unique statute that allows sexual assault victims a limited window to make legal claims against their attackers, regardless of when the offense took place.

More than 100 women have made accusations against Weinstein. He's currently serving a 23-year sentence in New York. The lawsuit also names Orman's talent agents, Walt Disney, and Mirmacs as defendants. None of them, nor Weinstein's lawyers, immediately. returned to messages. A Jersey Shoreman is going to prison for 18 months for his actions at the January 6th riot. Justice Department officials say 60-year-old Salvatore Vacello of Tom's River illegally entered the Capitol with the mob and grabbed and pushed an officer. 74 was sunshine now. Sunshine today and a high of 75 tomorrow morning shower chances patchy fog,

cloudy and 71. Cooler this weekend. I'm Jene Pierre. Two weeks ago, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the city's first ever live performance industry council. In a statement, the mayor said, quote, live performance has long been the heart and soul of this city. That's why we're continuing to support the industry's comeback. So just how well is the industry coming back?

WMYC pulled together three industry leaders to get their on-the-ground view during a live taping in the green space. Anna Glass is executive director of the Dance Theater of Harlem. Casey York is president of the off-Broadway league and managing director of Ars Nova and Jake Rosenthal is co-founder and CMO of the Brooklyn Performance Venue elsewhere. They all joined my colleague Sean Carlson

for this special event. Casey, we'll start with you. You were appointed as a member of the 52-person council. Can you tell us what the goals of it are? So we met two weeks ago at Gracie Mansion. We were all asked to bring in challenges and opportunities and sort of work through a way into some subcommittees, which of course, that's something you have to do. The thing that got me

the most excited was looking at ways that we might alchemize some really big ideas around real estate, right? There's a lot of vacant office spaces in New York City and Midtown. Could those be converted into performance spaces, into affordable housing for artists and arts workers? You know, that's what makes New York what it is, the cultural lifeblood, and figuring out ways that we might be, might work cross-industry to have partnerships from the not-for-profit side, the commercial sector, and think in the brave ideas that artists are so good at doing. Yeah. Jake, we've heard a lot this summer about Beyonce, right?

We have Taylor Swift and her heiress tour. Everyone's going to these things. They even have to say, please don't come and overwhelm the parking lot and tailgate, the Taylor Swift concert. So clearly the big concerts are doing okay. is that the same for smaller venues like elsewhere? For us, 2022, post-pandemic, was our strongest year by attendance, and 2023 this year is about to be even bigger than that.

So we've had one experience with the way that music and live performances come back post-pandemic. But I think that a lot of times we talk about these massive tours, these arena tours, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and I think for independent mid-sized small venues and such, these can become, I think, in the discourse, a little bit of a boogeyman or something. But I think what's really interesting, actually, from our perspective, if you zoom all the way out,

these types of megastar, our culture is actually producing less of these megastars over time, less mega hits over time. And so while this becomes a conversation about how these types of large tours are taking the air out of independent arts and things of that nature, when you really look at the numbers and the statistics, we're actually producing less of those kinds of mega stars these days. For example, in 2016, the top 100 tracks,

on streaming took about 10% of all airtime. Now we're down to about 4% for those top 100 tracks across all streaming. So we see this in the Billboard charts as well. 2001 to 2009, about 30 plus first time artist cracking into the top 10. These days, that's no more than 10, 11, 12. So the reality is actually that culture is fragmenting.

And if I were sort of a big producer of large events, I'd be actually wondering the opposite, which is how long Can we squeeze that stone and how much are we going to get out of it? And I think, you know, yeah, from our perspective, culture is fragmenting in a big way. And I think that's a huge opportunity for mid-size and small presenters. Anna, what are the ways that the pandemic has changed how the Dance Theater of Harlem operates? And is it back to pre-pandemic levels?

Unfortunately, it is not back to pre-pandemic levels. You know, while Dance Theatre of Harlem has seen great success from a fundraising standpoint, and certainly from an audience engagement, standpoint, we are not yet seeing the numbers in terms of earned revenue. And we're also contending with higher expenses to do what we do. So Danseats Heat of Harlem is a touring company. It is far more expensive to travel around the country than it was pre-pandemic. And so we are being squeezed while we see a lot of energy from our audiences. The revenue just isn't there yet. And then we're also seeing this other aspect where inflation is really having people think twice about where

they're putting their dollars. Yeah. Casey, what are some of the challenges that off-Broadway faces, that Broadway-Broadway does not? So off-Broadway, our primary audience really is New Yorkers. So the tri-state, the Fiveboro, the local folks coming to see a show after work in an office or making a date night or a family outing on a weekend. and with the changing labor trends and declining office use, those theater goers, that core audience is coming less frequently to see shows. So that attendance and ticket sales is one of the greatest challenges. You know, it's hard to compete with Netflix and the couch.

Leaving your house is tough after a long work from home day. I get it. So I look around this room full of cultural enthusiasts, and I know the listeners at home, like, understand and are craving that, ephemeral thing that only happens when you're in the room with the art while it's being made. It's different every day. And when you buy a ticket to see a show, you know, it's contributing not only to the economic revitalization, the job retention and creation that we're talking about from a budgetary perspective, but also building community, telling stories, and really

seeing something fun. Off-Broadway week just started yesterday. So with New York City tourism, We have 31 shows right now. You can get a two-for-one deal. It's our 14th year. And there's comedy, music, there's revivals, there's plays, there's something for everyone. And that is different than what you can get at home. You do have to leave, but when you get there, it'll be worth it. And in our last minute or so here, of course, I mean, books can and have been written about this.

But in a quick minute, dance performance and ballet has been pretty traditionally siloed, right? I think it's fair to say people of color already face barriers to entry. So in this transitional moment that we're in, what are your hopes for the future of equity in the industry? Great question. My hope for the future is that we see an experience where all people understand that ballet belongs to them, that people not only see themselves on the stage, they see their stories projected on the stage, that we see leadership that's reflecting the diversity of this beautiful country,

and that people understand that ballet is relevant, that we are not some snooty high art thing, but that you can experience yourself and experience the greatness of what's possible through ballet. Anna Glass, Casey York and Jake Rosenthal, thank you all so much for coming to the green space and giving our listeners some insight. Thanks so much.

Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. We'll be back this evening.