"In March, I remember looking around the standing-room-only crowd at Nightclub 101 in downtown Manhattan, where a relatively unknown assemblyman named Zohran Mamdani was holding a party-cum-fundraiser. I remember feeling the swell of hope and possibility, thinking - Wow. Am I crazy, or does he maybe have a shot at this thing? He most certainly did. But now comes the real work: upholding that towering vision of transformative reform in all arenas - affordability, housing, education, and the arts."
"the city's Department of Cultural Affairs currently gives more money each year to the Metropolitan Museum of Art than it does to every cultural institution in Queens and Staten Island combined. "Arts and culture are the very vehicles through which we express the power to shape our destinies," Sami Abu Shumays writes in a missive to New York City Mayor-elect Mamdani. "We must ensure that every member of our communities can actively participate in artistic and cultural creation and access affordable, local arts programs.""
A crowded fundraiser for Zohran Mamdani generated optimism about transformative reform, but the new administration must convert that energy into concrete change across affordability, housing, education, and the arts. Sami Abu Shumays urges an equitable approach to arts funding, noting the Department of Cultural Affairs directs more yearly support to the Metropolitan Museum of Art than to every cultural institution in Queens and Staten Island combined, and calls for affordable, local arts programs accessible to all community members. A Brussels nativity scene made from recycled textiles sparked debate over Christian imagery in European public spaces and its appropriate form. Reader reactions and questions about historical cultural access also appear.
Read at Hyperallergic
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