March against Trump (November)
March 30, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, is now speaking out against the president’s plan to cut arts funding.
Van Bramer is holding a rally on the steps of City Hall on Monday at noon, along with Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, to oppose proposed federal budget cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for Museum & Library Services, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“President Trump’s proposed budget is an unprecedented and vicious assault on the arts, humanities, and libraries,” said Van Bramer. “As the Chair of the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Libraries, I will fight these cuts at every stage of the budget process. On April 3 on the steps of City Hall, we will say loud and clear to President Trump that his blatant disregard for the importance of the arts has no place in our city and our country.”
In addition to Van Bramer and Mark-Viverito, several other politicians, artists, and representatives from various arts advocacy organizations will speak at the rally.
Directly following the hour-long rally, Van Bramer and attendees will move inside City Hall where he will introduce a resolution in support of the NEA, NEH, IMLS, and CPB and attendees will have a chance to testify.
The rally has sparked plenty of attention on Facebook with more than 2,000 people marked as either attending or interested in going. A spokesperson for Van Bramer said that they expect at least 500 people to attend, far outpacing their initial expectations for the event, and due to crowd limits at City Hall the rally may have to move to the surrounding park.
Confirmed speakers include Comptroller Scott Stringer, Presidents and CEOs of the 3 library systems, David Byrne from the Talking Heads, President CEO of WNET Neal Shapiro and Executive Director of Actors Equity Mary McColl.
For more information visit the event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1410437549008356
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31 Comments
Funny, all these likes on anti-jvb comments, but will you people go vote him out? You talk and you do nothing a out it, Shame on you!
people will vote him out that is for sure –
you can thank jimmy for that hideous massive concrete box being erected on the LIC waterfront. Ugliest library Ive ever seen. Great idea to block a beautiful view of Manhattan with a gigantic hideous cement box. But I guess youd call it art, right Jimmy?
now instead of doing his march again JVB – he should be addressing the death of this little child at the homeless shelter –
I think what he is doing is great. But he’s been in protest mode for so long that he’s losing the narrative on issues like how to solve 7 train overcrowding and getting some kind of tolls on the 59th Street Bridge. He should be doing both but I don’t see any big legislative initiatives coming from him.
Also his participatory budgeting voting is great but it’s obvious that when you have so many proposals directed to the Queensbridge and Ravenswoods Houses you are dealing with organized lobbies. Also they are asking for eight water fountains in one school for a grand total of (I kid you not) $80,000 or $10,000 a water fountain. Also $550,000 for picnic tables and benches.
JVB should be asking questions as to why it costs $10,000 for a water fountain and $550,000 for picnic tables and benches at the same time he is rightly protesting cuts to the arts.
well JVB could have cared less when he put up that ugly Pepto Bismol statue in long island city and that cost alot –
People, put up or shut up- VOTE HIM OUT! hes a self serving, photo opportunist,who is only worring about his political future. Even his backers are complaining about his lack of action in the neighborhood hes paid to improve, and the supporters are starting to feel the rally thing is wearing thin. Has he done some good in a job thats impossible to please all? Yes, but now with his actions of late, hes coming off very amateurish. I personally feel hes more hell bent on becoming nyc’s first openly homosexual mayor and no longer intrested in dealing with the task at h s nd. VOTE HIM OUT!
He’s obviously counting on the illegal alien vote.
he has been from the beginning –
**** Re: above comment: better yet, just send your check to the arts organization of your choice.
For anyone who thinks the arts are underfunded, there’s nothing stopping you from sending in a check for some extra money to the treasury when you file your taxes with a note saying you want it to go to the arts.
..
Speaking of publicly funded art, did it ever occur to some of you that a lot of Americans don’t want their hard earned dollars paying for so-called art depicting Jesus on the Cross in a tank of urine? Can you imagine if some artist did the same thing to Mohammed or the Koran? There would be riots in the streets.
Your nasty view is underdeveloped. Do you like computer games? Artists do them. Do you like movies? Artists do them. Do you like music? Artists, again. Artists can’t do what they do without making a living and people like you think it should all come for free because the last time you sang or drew or acted in a play you were in kindergarten; kids do it for free so should artists. If the government doesn’t help keep artists afloat, people like you will be left with way too much time on your hands to spew your venom all over civilization.
You are referring to commercial artists. Artists whose work people are willing to pay for. They generate their own income and don’t need a government hand out.
If you’re an artist and can’t sell your wares on the free market, maybe you’re just not very good. That’s no reason to penalize the taxpayers.
You must be doing something right when all the deplorables start filling up the comments section.
he is starting all over again JVB when will he stop TRUMP won — what is he doing for the citizens and I mean american citizens of his district –
Why doesn’t this guy protest the real estate developers? instead he just pays them lip service of how over population will mangle the 7 train even more. Van Bramer is a sell out!
Hilarious, Donald will be shaking in his boots.
Cut funding to everything in Nyc until they get on board with the Federal laws. Liberals can’t decide which laws they’re going or not going to follow !
Why doesn’t JVB worry about cleaning up our pig stye of a neighborhood and making it safer first, before grandstanding to further his political career. If he doesn’t want to do the things our council member should be doing, step down and let someone who cares about the neighborhood take over.
The man puts 3 new garbage cans in the entire neighborhood and its front page news!!! He thinks he should be getting a pat on the back for that?
Meanwhile, he’s more focused on catering to the big development companies in LIC only because there’s something in it for him!
Tired of all his bs’ing to us, the constituents, whom he’s supposed to be WORKING FOR!
Thats right jvb ,kick and scream till you get your way. Stamp your feet too! This tactic has to go your starting to embarrass your supporters .do an impressive to gain respect, your letting us down
Another day another JVB photo op
Here we go agai. This is what this guy makes $160,000 salary a year for?? But meanwhile go under the 48th street train over pass and Woodside Ave over pass and look at all the disgusting garbage everywhere.
Or walk down Skillman and try to find a trash can.
Or all of the small business closings that he promised to help out.
The list goes on and on and on.
But instead he’s protesting Trump again to buy his votes for another term.
This is your elected official folks $160k a year to organize Trump rallies.
well said
Well there won’t be cameras there so no rally for you!
Doesnt he realize his rallys aren’t doing anything. Not drawing attention, not making a difference, not making any noticeable progress. The rally thing is starting to become counterproductive They are actually making him look like a sour puss loser who cant get his way. Im starting to think of him as a real baby, not someone im going to support. I thought he was a leader, but these are the actions of a attention seeking loser.
Throwing a rally every other week for something isn’t helping just a poor publicity stunt.
Hey Van Bramer pick one either the illegals or the arts, you can’t have both.
he wants both –
he can do both
Isn’t JVB the one responsible for bringing that hideous chewed bubble gum sculpture to LIC and cost about half a mil?
This is not a man to be taken seriously on the subject of art.
Maybe the Clinton Foundation can make up the shortfall in arts funding. Hehehehe. Yeah right.
yes it was JVB that brought that brought that Pepto Bismol sculpture to LIC a disgrace –
Good for us.