Culture Groups Seeking Aid For Emergencies
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Representatives of New York City cultural organizations and members of city government are questioning whether these organizations have access to sufficient information and funding to adequately prepare for terrorist attacks, natural disasters, or other emergencies.
During a City Council hearing yesterday, the general manager of operations at the newly opened Museum of Arts and Design at 2 Columbus Circle, Linda Clous, said she knew of “no one public source available” to New York City institutions that addresses the myriad of potential emergency situations. “Such institutions would profit greatly by documentation of suggested measures by New York City agencies,” Ms. Clous said. She also noted the limited private funding available to nonprofit institutions, particularly in a time of economic turmoil.
The New York City cultural affairs commissioner, Kate Levin, said in her testimony that most literature on emergency preparedness is tailored for either retail businesses or large federal properties, not cultural groups. She also noted an ongoing need for organizations to collaborate in emergency planning — by, among other things, designating shared swing space that could be used for collections and operations in the event of a fire or flood.
The chairman of the council’s Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations, Dominic Recchia, said repeatedly that he did not think cultural organizations received enough guidance from either the Department of Cultural Affairs or the city’s Office of Emergency Management, which he noted does not have a special section on its Web site for cultural groups.
Both Mr. Recchia and Ms. Levin said that emergency preparedness is particularly challenging for small organizations that do not have their own security staff. The executive director of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Virginia Louloudes, who also testified at the hearing, noted that 150 of the approximately 350 theaters in her organization — some of them quite small — are situated within the Times Square area, and would likely have to evacuate in the event of a terrorist attack on Times Square.
