Bill Text: NY S00253 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

---

Bill Title: Directs the council on the arts to establish criteria and guidelines for the establishment of state designated arts and cultural districts.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-1)

Status: (Vetoed) 2024-12-21 - VETOED MEMO.125 [S00253 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00253-Amended.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         253--A
            Cal. No. 320

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sens. SERRANO, BAILEY, CLEARE, COMRIE, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, MAY,
          PARKER, PERSAUD, RAMOS, ROLISON -- read twice and ordered printed, and
          when  printed  to  be  committed to the Committee on Cultural Affairs,
          Tourism, Parks and Recreation -- reported favorably from said  commit-
          tee,  ordered  to first and second report, ordered to a third reading,
          passed by Senate and delivered to the Assembly, recalled, vote  recon-
          sidered,  restored  to  third  reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
          retaining its place in the order of third reading

        AN ACT to amend the arts and  cultural  affairs  law  and  the  economic
          development  law,  in  relation  to  creating  the  arts  and cultural
          district

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The  arts and cultural affairs law is amended by adding a
     2  new section 3.17 to read as follows:
     3    § 3.17. Arts and cultural districts. 1.   For  the  purposes  of  this
     4  section, "arts and cultural districts" means geographic areas of a city,
     5  town  or  village  with  a  concentration of arts or cultural facilities
     6  located within its boundaries. Two or more local governments may jointly
     7  apply for a designated district where the proposed  geographic  area  of
     8  such  district  shall extend across commonly held jurisdictional bounda-
     9  ries.
    10    2. The council, in cooperation with the department of economic  devel-
    11  opment  and  any  other state department, office, division or agency the
    12  council deems necessary, shall develop criteria and guidelines for state
    13  designated arts and cultural districts.  Criteria developed by the coun-
    14  cil, in cooperation with the department of economic development and  any
    15  other  state  department,  office,  division or agency the council deems
    16  necessary, to designate a district shall,  to  the  extent  practicable,
    17  include,  but  not be limited to, determinations that such district: (a)

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01481-04-3
        S. 253--A                           2

     1  attracts artists, arts educators, or cultural enterprises to the  commu-
     2  nity,  (b)  encourages enterprise and job development due to the concen-
     3  tration of artistic or cultural  activity,  a  major  arts  or  cultural
     4  institution or facility, arts and entertainment businesses, an area with
     5  arts  and  cultural  activities, arts education, or artistic or cultural
     6  production, (c) attracts a sufficient amount of  tourism,  (d)  enhances
     7  local  property  values  and  fosters  local  cultural  development, (e)
     8  engages in the promotional, preservation, and educational aspects of the
     9  arts and culture of the community and contribute to the  public  through
    10  interpretive,  educational, or recreational uses; or (f) satisfies addi-
    11  tional criteria as determined by  the  council  that  will  further  the
    12  purposes  of this section.  The council, in cooperation with the depart-
    13  ment of economic development and any  other  state  department,  office,
    14  division  or  agency  the  council  deems  necessary, shall also develop
    15  guidelines that provide assistance to  a  city,  town,  or  village,  or
    16  multiple local governments applying jointly in developing an application
    17  for  district certification.  For any state designated arts and cultural
    18  district,  the  department of economic development, in cooperation  with
    19  the  council  and any other state department, office, division or agency
    20  the department deems necessary, shall provide state supported assistance
    21  to the district in its activities, including but not  limited to   tech-
    22  nical  assistance in applying for federal and non-profit grants, market-
    23  ing  expertise,  identification  of other state   resources   that   may
    24  assist  a  district's activities  or  programs that could be created  or
    25  expanded within state agencies to assist districts.
    26    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    27  it shall have become a law.