Legislation introduced this week would pave the way for more affordable artist housing in New York City. Announced on Wednesday by Manhattan Council Members Keith Powers and Erik Bottcher, the legislation would amend the city’s administrative code to clarify that housing programs offering preference to artists do not violate human rights laws prohibiting discrimination based on occupation. The legislation aims to create more housing opportunities for artists, many of whom earn well below the city’s average rent thresholds, in the nation’s cultural capital, as first reported by Gothamist.
Powers, who represents Council District 4, which includes Manhattan’s East Side and Midtown, said in an interview that he grew up in the East Village and spent his youth at iconic live music venues like CBGB, Brownies, and others. At the time, he noted, many of the artists who performed there also lived nearby.
“ It was known as a bastion of artists and musicians and many lived around there to be part of that,” Powers told Gothamist. “I think that has shifted a lot with the affordability problem here in Manhattan, where somebody who’s trying to work close to where they make a living is having a much harder time to do it on an artist’s salary.”
This issue largely has to do with the city’s affordable housing crisis, Powers says, as well as the unintended consequence of a change to the city’s human rights law, which he says is widely interpreted as preventing the creation of occupation-specific housing.
According to a 2022 survey by The Portrait of New York State Artists, 57 percent of more than 13,000 respondents earned less than $25,000 the previous year, while nearly 86 percent earned under $50,000. Sixty-three percent said that if faced with an unexpected $400 expense, they could only cover it with credit.
A 2017 survey of local artists found that 40 percent could not afford basic supplies. When new artist housing did become available, demand far exceeded supply: 53,000 applicants competed for just 89 apartments in Harlem—a ratio of roughly 600 artists per unit.
In an official statement, Bottcher described artists as the “lifeblood” of NYC and called the proposal a “common-sense fix” to an outdated housing rule.
“Artists are the lifeblood of New York City—they fuel our culture, our economy, and our sense of identity,” Bottcher said. “Yet too often, they’re among the first to be displaced by our city’s affordability crisis.”
He added, “For decades, artist housing has been a proven and practical way to keep our creative community rooted here, but an outdated rule has put that model in jeopardy. This legislation delivers a simple, common-sense fix to remove that barrier and reaffirm our commitment to the people who make New York the cultural capital of the world.”
The legislation has garnered support from several cultural leaders, including Randi Berry, executive director of IndieSpace, an organization that advocates for and supports independent theater, according to Gothamist.
“For too long, New York City has not met the affordable housing needs of workers, which includes artists,” Berry said. “Artists are the backbone of our city’s cultural and economic life, yet many juggle multiple jobs and gig work to make ends meet, so census data rarely identifies them as full-time artists. As a result, thousands remain ineligible for the housing meant to support working people.”
One of the few developments in New York City that remains affordable for artists is Manhattan Plaza, a Hell’s Kitchen subsidized housing project from the 1970s that reserves a majority of its units for performers and artists. As reported by W42ST, the building recently reopened its waitlist for professional performing artists and Manhattan Community Board 4 residents. Find out more here.
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