Landlord says city should ‘incentivize’ developers to create art facilities
Residential developers get floor-area bonuses for including “affordable” apartments and for providing certain public amenities such as plazas — so why not also for arts and cultural facilities?
That’s a proposal by Charles S. Cohen, who just reopened the modernized Quad Cinema on West 13th Street to widespread cheers. As a major landlord who’s also an active film producer and distributor, he’s interested in bringing art-house movie venues, live theater and dance and related activities to neighborhoods lacking them.
Noting that arts institutions are “hard-pressed to find space” due to the same cost pressures that have driven out many small stores and restaurants, Cohen proposes zoning changes to allow residential developers to build more apartments — in exchange for making arts space available for free in the same building.
He said the situation is so dire that, “Lots of art cinemas around the country are resorting to a nonprofit form of operating, having to rely on personal donations from those who want to support them.”
So, he suggests, “Why not have the Department of City Planning incentivize creation of cultural amenities in areas where there’s demand for them?” He said that while the Planning Department would set the basic zoning framework, the Department of Cultural Affairs could be involved in vetting specific arts uses at a given location.