Is New York City Eating Itself Alive?

Culturally, that is.

I began to ask myself this question about the time I saw this article, and several similar ones, about artists leaving New York because the cost of living, and creating, in the Big Apple has become unbearably high.  I began to ask it with greater frequency after I saw this article, about Rizzoli Bookstore having to abandon a historic building for the second time in less than three decades.  And today, after reading this, and then this, I think that everyone who cares not just about New York, but all of our urban cultural centers, should be asking this question and doing everything they can to make sure that, ultimately, the answer is no.

Cities, especially large ones like New York, have always been challenging for artists, especially new and unproven ones.  Their size and financial resources make them attractive as a source of audiences, investors and other forms of patronage.  But the overall cost of living is difficult to handle for artists who are just starting out and have few if any patrons.  Still, for the most part, the agony/ecstasy balance of big cities for artists has historically leaned on the latter side, at least during the 20th century.

But in the 21st century, all of that has changed.  Gentrification, which initially provided an economic boost to many cities, has grown to the point where, in the case of New York, it is almost impossible to find a neighborhood untouched by it.  As is the case in the Sunset Park story, artists who have invested time, energy and money into reclaiming and revitalizing older, historic buildings are paying the price for their success by having their rents raised past their breaking point.  And never mind gentrification in the case of historically pricey areas like 57th Street in Manhattan (where, briefly, I worked as an art gallery intern many years ago).  There, mansions such as the one housing Rizzoli and other beautiful landmarks are being bulldozed to create castles for the ultra-rich.

This latter trend is now so pronounced that it's no longer even older buildings that are being threatened.  Even "trendy" buildings built a few years ago are not safe, as is the case with the former Museum of Folk Art building that will be leveled as part of a Museum of Modern Art expansion.  As a result, two architect couples are now no longer speaking to each other--and, ironically, one of them had participated in the abandonment of the historic Barnes Foundation home in suburban Philadelphia.  For them, the "landmark" shoe is now very much on the other foot.

And none of this would be possible were it not for 20 years of Republican mayors hell-bent on turning New York into New Jersey, or Shanghai, or anything but New York.  In the process, they took the melting pot and turned it into a pot of gold for their supporters, at the expense of everyone else.  Especially for artists, and for all of us who support their work.

Even I'm not sure what can be done to reverse all of this.  It's a subset of the larger trend in our society in which 1% gets the goldmine and 99% get the shaft.  Something has to be done, and soon, or it won't just be New York that's eating itself alive.  In the very short run, the best advice I can give to artists is to move to less pricey cities and pool their resources in the process.  Perhaps they can end up as the vanguard of the revolution this country needs.

And, if any of them want to come to Baltimore, they're more than welcome.