Name | Aleta LaFargue |
District (Number Only) | 3 |
Aletalafargue2021@gmail.com | |
What is your plan for getting the city back to work, particularly in its hardest hit sectors? What kind of workforce development programs do you envision that would provide access to communities of color and people with disabilities? | We need more programs like the Works Progress Administration or CETA NYC; programs that provide jobs to artists and other workers bringing their experience to the public. Within this, we need a specific program guiding the response to COVID-19, that evaluates projects based on fiscal impact and potential job creation for communities. We need strong programs that address the areas where people have the most need. Nonprofit arts recovery funds must prioritize communities where people are disproportionately impacted. More open culture will also provide accessibility for folks in communities of color to start their own artistic practices. We need to use these city programs to build back our artistic infrastructure even better than before. |
What is your plan for creating healthy stable communities? How do you envision enlivening vacant commercial and city owned spaces? | I successfully advocated for and won the use of vacant storefronts on 43rd Street to exhibit art created by local artists. Throughout the quarantine, I provided opportunities for dancers, singers, musicians, and actors to perform outdoors and assisted them in raising money for their work. I would expand these efforts across the city using the many vacant spaces in our communities. Vacant commercial space provides valuable opportunities for pop-up art. Our city needs to use these city owned spaces to help get artists back on their feet and keep them there. We cannot foresee the long term economic impact of COVID-19 on traditional small business foot traffic; so what we can do is use these vacant commercial spaces to enliven our arts scene and help bring our artistic communities back. |
What do you foresee is the role of creative economies in supporting economic recovery in New York City particularly for communities most affected by environmental, housing, and health instability due to COVID including our aging, immigrant, and working class communities of color? | Creative economies are one of the great things that New York City has to offer. I’ve been the Tenant President of a building complex of public housing for artists. As a City Councilwoman, I would make sure that people regardless of immigration status or zip code have the chance to pursue their artistic vision. Our creative revival can give opportunity to those who commonly have not had access to creative spaces. We need community grants, fully funded by the city, to help jumpstart the expressive projects of people from all different backgrounds around the city. Revival of the artistic community in District 3 cannot be separated from the imperative equity changes that must rebalance our creative economies overall. |
What is your plan for the city’s school system and what is your vision of the role that arts in education plays? | Arts are a crucial part of a child's development and in many cases have proven life-saving for students. Curriculums such as the one taught at PS212 where my son attends 2nd grade; the children learn everything from science, math, reading, and writing within the context of a Broadway show. This inspires my son and his peers to learn and work much harder than being taught without the backdrop of such uplifting elements of music, dance, acting and design. This integration of creative teaching should be replicated across all public schools. Arts education has been shown to be an exceptionally important part of childhood development, but right now only the privileged few have access to quality artistic expression in schools. As we work tirelessly to improve our education on all fronts, we must interweave those efforts with ensuring that Arts are incorporated throughout our public school system. |
What is your plan to address the health care needs of the city's many communities? | I’ll call for the passage of the New York Health Act, which would create a universal single-payer healthcare system for all of New York State. Our current insurance system is a patchwork of union, marketplace, Medicaid, and Medicare that still leaves too many uninsured. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on and exposed how brittle our insurance system is during a health crisis. Removing the cost of healthcare entirely from workers and guaranteeing coverage will protect the lives of countless New Yorkers including performing arts workers, providing a sustainable safety net in their career. In the meantime, I have organized a monthly mammogram truck along with Mount Sinai to be located in local communities providing free access to mammograms. I successfully redesigned Manhattan Plaza’s senior service program, increasing the number of visiting nurses and addressing myriad healthcare needs of the senior population. I would fight for more neighborhood clinics to avoid emergency room visits for non-emergencies. Nationally, I support Medicare for All, but there are many improvements we can make on the municipal level to improve access for New Yorkers while the Medicare for All battle moves forward. |
What are your plans for supporting incarcerated and formerly incarcerated New Yorkers? | Currently there are no programs for recently released or formerly incarcerated people. The lack of support and service is what perpetuates recidivism and is a failure that must be rectified. Incarcerated people deserve access to quality education at every level, period. In particular, arts education and creative workshops should be funded and prioritized in jails and prisons. As the question suggests, research shows that creative outlets lead to higher quality of life and civic engagement for formerly incarcerated individuals. Whether it is improved confidence or simply a constructive use of energy, I support investing in moral, high-impact programing that should be provided by the state. For those formerly incarcerated folks facing the daunting prospect of reentry into society, we should provide not only arts education but many job training and skill building workshops to support a successful return to the legal workforce. We need strong programs to equitably support people as they rejoin society, and the investment in the recovery of our citizens will be paid back many times over once they’ve successfully integrated into the workforce. |
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