PANEL 3—Meet the Candidates Forum—League of Independent Theater—Wed, March 15 2017
Channel: HowlRound Theatre Commons
Date: 17/05/2017

Panel 3

Councilmember Costa Contantinides (District 22)
Jabari Brisport (District 35)
Councilmember Laurie Cumbo (District 35)
Khader El-Yateem (District 43)
John Quaglione (District 43)

Questions: 

1. Everyone knows the song “No Sleep til Brooklyn.” I believe we can sleep now because Brooklyn-ification is everywhere. If I go into one more bar full of reclaimed wood and craft beer, I will lose my mind. Brooklyn is a label given to things that are artistic or artisanal and high quality. Has Brooklyn left us behind? Is it too late? How can anything at our level grow in the shadow of Barclay’s Center and other huge developments in Brooklyn?

2. Which arts organizations and indie theater anchor venues in your district would you add to the Cultural Institutions Group? Or, what would look for in groups or venues to determine who you think should make that cut?

…PLUS, all candidates were asked the following “lighting round” questions:

Raise your hands if…

• You are willing to be a co-sponsor to Ben Kallos’s CitySpaces initiative to create a searchable database of unused or under-utilized city-owned spaces.

• You will clearly and visibly list your stances on issues facing indie theater and performing arts on your campaign’s website and literature.

• You support campaign finance reform and getting money from PACS, Super PACS or special interests out of political campaigns at all levels.

• You commit to covering the gap created if there are cuts on a federal level to the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

• You support a path to citizenship for artists who come to this country to perform or work on indie theater productions.

• You support the efforts by New Yorkers for Culture & Arts in getting parity in the NYC Cultural Plan between our Cultural Institutions Group and Cultural Development Funds

• You support the expansion of the Cultural Institutions Group to include independent theater anchor venues.  

• You support the promotion of indie theater to the more than 61 million visitors coming to New York City each year.

• You promise to see at least 3 indie theater productions before the elections.

The League of Independent Theater (LIT) in New York City presents a Meet the Candidates forum livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Wednesday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. EDT (New York) / 6:00 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 4:00 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles).

The forum will host over a dozen candidates running for various city-wide offices in the 2017 election. A moderator will ask questions relating to the LIT’s platform, and there will be time afterward for meeting the candidates directly. 

LIT’s Meet the Candidates forum brings together sixteen candidates for New York City council and theatre artists to discuss key community issues such as sustainable rehearsal and performance space, housing, and healthcare. These issues are the backbone of LIT’s performing arts platform, which is detailed here: https://www.litny.org/performing-arts-platform.

The event will begin with a keynote from Julie Menin, Commissioner of New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment.

"This is the biggest moment in the political cycle for artists and activists to ask questions and get direct answers from our city leaders," Guy Yedwab, Managing Director of Operations said. "Facing the loss of our working and living space, healthcare, federal funding for the arts, and public housing, the Independent Theater constituency has many questions about the future of the arts in New York City.”

The League of Independent Theater is the only 501(c)6 organization for the independent theater and performing arts population of New York City, serving the interests of many thousands of independent performing artists, 86% of whom vote regularly.

Following the forum LIT’s membership will meet and decide which candidates to endorse, also running a "Get Out The Vote" effort in the performing arts community. LIT hosted a similar forum in 2013 which resulted in the endorsement of ten candidates who successfully won their races.

Since that time, LIT has worked with those community leaders, as well as others already in office, to advance its platform. “The 2017 Meet the Candidates forum promises to continue this upward momentum,” Yedwab explained, “and is a key opportunity for artists and politicians to listen to make New York City a more sustainable environment for citizens, artists, and audiences.”
http://howlround.com/livestreaming-the-meet-the-candidates-forum-from-the-league-of-independent-theater-in-new-york-city

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