Hi Mayor De Blasio,
Please know
that we all thank you so much for the incredible hard work you and your
office are doing for NYers, from those on the front line to those
affected by this pandemic in so many ways. I know I dont stand alone in
letting you know how much we appreciate all that you are doing around
the clock to help NYC get through this. Thank you.
Many of the victims
of the pandemic as you know are thankfully healthy but have lost their
livelihood. Some of these NYers are musicians and performers who were
entertaining patrons and listeners with their incredible talents only to
have that livelihood completely disappear recently. Years before the
pandemic (in 2014 I believe) I had wanted to see NYC become a mecca (as it rightfully should
be as all the greats started here at some of the greatest music venues
in the world) where businesses like restaurants and bars for instance
would be given incentives to bring live music back to their
establishments, where artists could be paid a fair amount by the venue
(whether or not they prepaid for their tickets or were able to get a
sizeable audience to attend on a Tuesday night), where NYC could once
again be the music capital of the world like it once was (which cities
like Nashville and Austin have stolen from us because of their
incredible support of the Arts community) and so I wrote your office and you responded favorably but needed me to get the support first of local politicians. The task was too difficult back then as life would get in the way for me.
Now more than ever Mayor, we
need both INCENTIVES for businesses when we reopen, to include Live
Music as well as LEGISLATION to protect those music artists and the
music community as a whole (from the buskers and coffehouse
singer/songwriter to the nightclub performers and talented rock and jazz
bands) from being taken advantage of by the venue owners and promoters
of the places they play. Cultivating NYCs creative community is
cultivating the SOUL of NYC. I am a music educator with the NYC school
system for 30 years now as well as an Artist and Talent Manager for a
number of music artists I represent who need your help to know what
their future and the future of the music community of NYC will look
like. Will you help the Arts and live music once again thrive in NYC
(post-pandemic)?
Thank you for your time and consideration on this
important matter.
