New York City Budget Cuts Arts Spending By Nearly 11%

The New York City budget that was announced on Wednesday has cut spending on cultural affairs by nearly 11%, The New York Times reports.

The city is facing a $9 billion loss in tax revenues, due to the health crisis, which caused the cuts.

Last year, funding for the Department of Cultural Affairs was an all-time high of $212 million, but this year the budget includes about $189 million for the department.

There is a roughly $15 million cut to arts education services in the Department of Education budget. Funding for the Cultural After-School Adventures Program was cut by $3 million, and the Cultural Immigrant Initiative was cut by almost 14%.

However, The Coalition of Theaters of Color, kept its $3.7 million in funding from last year.

City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer, who chairs the cultural affairs committee, said some wanted even deeper cuts to the arts funding. He ultimately voted against the budget plan.

Read more on The New York Times.