The great city of New York has played home to some of the most iconic figures in music, the city home to some of the most important music to date.
One only needs to look to Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, to more modern day legends like The Strokes, Vampire Weekend and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, NYC has traditionally fostered up and coming art, however in more recent years the once bubbling mecca of creativity has seen a rather large exodus – the metropolis is simply too expensive to live in, however as Consequence Of Sound highlight, this may change.
Current Mayor Bill de Blasio has great plans to restore New York City to its former state: a place where all forms of artists can come together, create and most importantly live affordably. During his State of the City address earlier this week, the mayor announced plans to provide 1,500 units of affordable housing reserved exclusively for low-income creatives.
The proposed plan is said to see 150 units be built each year for the following ten years, as well as 500 separate units as working space, and although no exact location has been decided upon yet, de Blasio intends for these units to be brand-spanking new buildings, as opposed to taking over old existing infrastructure.
Mayor de Blasio commented on his future intentions, “We know that New York is the city it is today in part because of the contributions from generations of artistic visionaries who at one point struggled to make ends meet.”
For those interested, the income limits that would allow a musician or artist to qualify for one of the affordable housing options are as follows: Individuals whose income falls between $29,400 – $47,000 and families of four qualify between $41,951 – $67,120 annually all have the opportunity to live in the brand new residential plans.
We think this is a pretty cool initiative, imagine if in a few years the next The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan or Horses is penned in these creative new hubs?
