Creative New York

Local artists form a key component of the city's economy, but their growth must still be nurtured. If the city wants to harness the economic power of its "creative core," it should implement sweeping new strategies to keep the arts thriving in New York. The report examines nine seemingly disparate industries--design, publishing, music, advertising, visual arts, broadcasting, performing arts, architecture, and film and video--and makes a case for seeing them as one economic engine. The high cost of rental space and health care, and a lack of coordinated support services hinder success, notes the study, which will be the subject of a conference in March 2006. Unlike cities like London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Berlin, New York has yet to devise a plan for the creative sector in its overall economic development strategies. Yet, as the report outlines, the Bloomberg administration has been actively promoting discrete projects such as tax credits for film production companies and capital grants for nonprofit cultural institutions.