Release # 105-01

 

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Sunny Mindel/ Lynn Rasic

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Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today announced appointments to the reconstituted New York City Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission, a charter--mandated body charged with advising the Mayor with respect to cultural activities in the City. The City Charter provides that the Mayor may appoint 15 to 21 Commission members to serve without compensation for three year terms. The Charter authorizes the Commission to formulate and recommend goals with regard to cultural affairs and policy, foster coordination among government agencies and cultural institutions, as well as perform such other related functions and duties which may be deemed appropriate by the Mayor.

The Mayor also announced that he has asked the Commission to consider sensible, fair and constitutional guidelines and procedures for the City regarding taxpayer funding of cultural institutions and the arts.

"As the cultural capital of the world, New York City benefits immensely from the quality and diversity of creative expression found throughout the City," Mayor Giuliani said. "As a result, New Yorkers uniquely understand that the First Amendment must protect the right of artists to express their diverse and sometimes controversial views.

"The Commission will assess the extent to which, consistent with the Constitution, public funding for the arts should differ from private funding for the arts," the Mayor added.

The Mayor's appointments to the Commission, which is comprised of artists, arts supporters, and business, civic and community leaders, include:

• Martin Bergman -- Freelance Investigative Reporter and News Producer
  
  
• Bartle Bull, Esq. -- Attorney and Author; Partner, Jones Hirsch Connors Bull; Former Publisher, The Village Voice
  
  
• Bishop Roderick Caesar -- Pastor, Bethel Gospel Tabernacle
  
  
• Alfred B. Curtis, Jr.-- President, United Nations Development Corporation; Trustee, City University of New York
  
  
• Constance Del Vecchio-Maltese -- Artist
  
  
• Raoul L. Felder, Esq.-- Attorney, Author, and Commentator
  
  
• Alan B. Friedberg -- President, Alan B. Friedberg Investment and Development Corporation; Board Member, Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Chairman, Eastside Association, Inc.
  
  
• Leonard Garment, Esq. - Partner, Verner, Lipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand; Former Co-Chair of the Independent Commission on the National Endowment for the Arts; Former Special Consultant and Acting Counsel to President Richard M. Nixon
  
  
• Rabbi Shea Hecht - Chairman, National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education; Member, New York City Commission on Human Rights
  
  
• Lawrence Herbert - Chairman and CEO, Pantone, Inc.; Member, New York State Council on the Arts; Board Member, New York City Ballet and American Film Institute
  
  
• Diana Kan - Artist and Author
  
  
• Bud Konheim - Chief Executive Officer, Nicole Miller; Member, New York City Art Commission
  
  
• Herbert London - John M. Olin Professor of the Humanities at New York University; President, Hudson Institute
  
  
• Mary Ann Mattone - Trustee, Queens Borough Public Library
  
  
• Imam Izak-El Pasha - Resident Imam, Masjid Malcom Shabazz; Member, New York City Commission on Human Rights
  
  
• Kay M. Pesile - Pesile Financial Group; Trustee, City University of New York
  
  
• John Howard Sanden - Artist; Recipient, John Singer Sargent Medal
  
  
• Curtis Sliwa - Founder, Guardian Angels; Commentator
  
  
• Marta Varela - Chair, New York City Commission on Human Rights
  
  
• Lester Wallman, Esq. - Partner, Wallman Gasman & McKnight, LLP; Member, National Arts Club

The Commission also includes as ex officio members a Deputy Mayor, the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs and the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation.

Mayor Giuliani also announced that Daniel S. Connolly, Special Counsel at the New York City Law Department, will serve as Executive Director of the Commission.

The City currently provides more than $115 million in annual operating funding to cultural institutions throughout the City, which exceeds the annual budget of the National Endowment for the Arts. Additionally, the City has committed more than $1.2 billion in capital funds over the next ten years to support the renovation and expansion cultural facilities Citywide.

www.nyc.gov