THE COUNCIL CHRONICLE Julia de Burgos Center still empty months after reopening September 30th, 2013 BY: AMBER JAMIESON [email protected]/@ambiej If you want to host a birthday party at the recently re-opened Julia de Burgos Cultural Center community space in East Harlem, prepare yourself for a booking process that is now much more difficult, and maybe far more expensive, than it was before. You’ll have to purchase insurance with $1 million in general liability coverage (which will add $100 to your party budget), provide a “detailed schedule” of the party and clarify how many guests will be under 18. Plus, it’s a mystery how much it will cost to actually rent the space. The new guidelines, recently released by the building’s landlord, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC), are turning people away from booking arts and cultural events, said Luis Cordero, co-founder of the Puerto Rican Institute of the Development of the Arts (PRIDA). “It might be available but it’s too complicated,” said Cordero. “They need to uncomplicate things and let the community know the space is available for events,” he said. PRIDA and East Harlem Preservation organized a protest in July outside the Julia de Burgos Center, calling for the public spaces to be reopened. Marina Ortiz, the founder and president of East Harlem Preservation, said the new guidelines are “restrictive”. Two months after the cultural center’s theater and community rooms reopened to the public, only one event has taken place. That event was co-hosted last month by Melissa Mark-Viverito, the city council member representing the area. Mark-Viverito instigated the closing of the Julia de Burgos theater and community rooms, on the corner of E 106th St and Lexington Avenue, back in September 2010. No upcoming events have been booked in the 160-person theater or the 2,600 foot multi-purpose rooms downstairs. For over a decade the multi-purpose community room at the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center was heavily used for cultural events such as dance classes and poetry readings, as well as private parties and public memorials. “This has historically been, since 1996, a place where the community comes together for many, many reasons,” said Ortiz. The Julia de Burgos Cultural Center theater was used less often for plays and events as the sound systems were not up to a professional standard, but performances occurred there occasionally, said Ortiz. In September 2010, Mark-Viverito led a campaign to change the management of the center’s theater and multi-purpose room. At the time, Mark-Viverito said that Taller Boricua, a Puerto Rican arts organization that had managed the cultural center since 1996, had left the space “underutilized” and “languishing.” The cultural center venues have been left dormant since 2010. A lease is yet to be signed between the building’s landlord and the new managers, an alliance led by the Hispanic Federation, a network of not-for-profit organizations. The July protest by PRIDA and Harlem Preservation to reopen the center prompted Mark-Viverito to release a statement offering temporary leases of the theatre and multi-purpose room until the management of the space was finalized. Patrick Muncie, spokesman for the EDC, the building’s landlords, confirmed that no events have been booked but said people have inquired about holding community events, film screenings and seminars there. Muncie disagreed that the guidelines were turning people away, noting that they were consistent with event rules at other EDC locations. “We have not heard complaints, nor have we heard from anyone who was deterred after learning of the guidelines,” said Muncie. In 2010 it cost $300-600 to rent the multi-purpose room for an evening. Muncie said the fee will now determined on a case-by-case basis. He was unable to say how much it would cost to hold a birthday party at the center. “Folks who are wanting to use the space can reach out and explain the specifics, and then a price is determined,” he said. Mark-Viverito did not respond to calls for comment on why the interim leases had yet to be used.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 09:49:30 +0000
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