Bill Text: NY S01062 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

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: (Introduced) 2025-01-08 - REFERRED TO CULTURAL AFFAIRS, TOURISM, PARKS AND RECREATION [S01062 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-S01062-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1062

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 8, 2025
                                       ___________

        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

        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)
    18  attracts artists, arts educators, or cultural enterprises to the  commu-
    19  nity,  (b)  encourages enterprise and job development due to the concen-
    20  tration of artistic or cultural  activity,  a  major  arts  or  cultural
    21  institution or facility, arts and entertainment businesses, an area with

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01663-01-5
        S. 1062                             2

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