Manhattan Borough President Plans to Use His $50 M. Budget Toward the Arts, as Rebuff to the Trump Administration

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal announced Tuesday that he will dedicate $50 million, the entirety of his discretionary budget for the next fiscal year, toward the arts, reports the New York Times.

Hoylman-Sigal, who assumed office in January, told the Times that this decision came as a direct response to President Donald Trump and his attempts to remake the nation’s cultural institutions. During his second administration, Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center and attempted to rename it after himself; ordered the changing of displays at historic sites that examine the history of enslavement in the US; proposed a triumphal arch and sculpture garden of American heroes; and cracked down on various parts of the Smithsonian Institution, which ultimately led to the resignation of National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet.

“I know the importance of arts and culture to our society, to the economy and to future generations of Manhattanites and New Yorkers,” Hoylman-Sigal told the paper. “We think this is a boost of morale for the sector.”

This decision is a break from past borough presidents who have divided their discretionary budget between various city services, including public housing, parks, and the arts. The dispersal of these funds still needs to be approved as part of the city budget, which is to be adopted by the City Council by the end of June, ahead of the start of the fiscal year starting on July 1.

With funding going to benefit arts education, renovations at museums, and more, that $50 million will benefit 55 cultural organizations and 28 schools. The largest set of grants, $2 million, will be awarded to the American Museum of Natural History, El Museo del Barrio, the Ballet Hispánico of New York, the Museum of Chinese in America, and the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The American Museum of Natural History’s $2 million is to be allocated toward the renovation of its Pacific Birds Hall, which is still in the early planning phases, per the Times.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Museum of the City of New York, Taller Boricua, and the New York Shakespeare Festival will all get $1 million, while the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Historical, and the Art Students League of New York are to get a grant of $500,000 each. Other organizations receiving funds are the International Center of Photography ($500,000), Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation ($327,000), Friends of the High Line ($250,000), and the Morgan Library & Museum ($200,000).

Among the public schools receiving funding are O’Shea Campus – M044 ($900,000), P.S. 004 – Duke Ellington ($750,000), Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts ($500,000), P.S. 75 – Emily Dickinson School ($325,000), P.S. 15 – The Roberto Clemente School ($197,000), and High School of Art and Design ($100,000). Other educational organizations that are part of the grantees include Hunter College – CUNY, which will receive $300,000, and the Juilliard School, which is to get $257,000.

Hoylman-Sigal also said that this allotment fund is aimed to inspire matching donations from private donors, with some $12 million already raised, according to the Times. The goal is a further investment in the city’s arts and culture, he said, adding, “Uncertainty is what can send the sector into a tailspin because mounting an exhibition can take years to plan. We are hoping to provide some stability.”

The full list of cultural organizations and schools who are set to receive funds from the $50 million budget, if approved, follows below.