Creative New York

Employment in New York City's nonprofit and for-profit arts sector increased 13 percent between 2003 and 2013, a report from the Center for an Urban Future finds. According to Creative New York (68 pages, PDF), a total of 295,755 people worked in creative industries — which include advertising, architecture, broadcasting, design, film and television, music, performing arts, publishing, and visual arts, and as independent artists — in 2013, accounting for 7 percent of all jobs in the city, while the number of nonprofit arts organizations and creative businesses rose some 18 percent. The New York City arts sector has faced challenges, however, including an "affordability crisis" driven by exorbitant rents, a shortage of space, and low wages. Funded by the New York Community Trust, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Edelman, the report's recommendations for strengthening the city's creative sector include regulations to improve the affordability of real estate, more funding and support from local and state government, additional investments in economic and community development, and greater efforts to promote diversity and inclusivity.