Support Taller Boricua - Stop EDC's RFEI

THE ISSUE

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC), manager of the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center, has issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) over the multicultural community space occupied by Taller Boricua. After founding the Julia de Burgos over 15 years ago and being ideal tenants ever since (paying rent, insurance and upkeep), the survival of Taller Boricua is at risk. Should EDC be successful, it will potentially cripple Taller Boricua’s community arts and cultural programming, including events associated with art exhibitions.

Taller Boricua was informed on September 17, 2010 that the RFEI was to be released on September 30, 2010. The current application deadline is November 17, 2010. Requiring Taller Boricua to compete with other groups in a vague, rushed RFEI process for space that we already currently occupy is unjust and corrupt. It is disrespectful and dismissive of Taller Boricua's history and current cultural programming in El Barrio.

EDC's rationale for the RFEI is that the Julia de Burgos theater (managed and run by the City) must be rented together with our multicultural space due to the lack of soundproofing between spaces.

Other undefined issues such as "access" and "utilization" distract and divide the community. They require clarification and dialogue, not ultimatums. Taller Boricua is, and always has been, willing to work with other groups to grow the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center. The reality is that the RFEI takes power away from the community and puts it in the hands of EDC.

The RFEI states that EDC has the authority to select any group of its choice to take over Taller Boricua’s lease of the multicultural space and the theater without involvement from the current tenants of the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center, Taller Boricua, Community Board 11 or the community of El Barrio. This is not the first time EDC has engaged in such unilateral action. La Marqueta faced a similar RFEI.

Activating the Julia de Burgos Theater requires funding and renovations by EDC and the City – Not RFEI’s that put the financial obligations on the community. Taking away Taller Boricua’s space to allow EDC and the City to avoid fixing the theater is unjustifiable.

TALLER BORICUA’S LEGACY OF COMMITMENT TO EL BARRIO, SPANISH HARLEM

Taller Boricua’s mission has always been for positive change and growth for Spanish Harlem. We see the “issue” with soundproofing of the theater as an opportunity for jobs for workers in Spanish Harlem and a revival of the theater’s use.

Starting in the 60’s, a time when Spanish Harlem was basically ignored and ostricized socially, economically and politically, Taller Boricua fought for our community, dedicating the organization to the improvement of living conditions and providing arts and culture programming to El Barrio.

The founders and current directors of Taller Boricua, Fernando Salicrup and Marcos Dimas, have always been involved with bringing basic public services as well as the arts to the neighborhood such as: working with Operation Fightback to create and keep affordable housing; being part of the original founding board of El Museo del Barrio and assisting Boys Harbor’s move to Spanish Harlem. They also helped more recent not-for-profits art groups such as Art for Change and Media Noche start-up in the community. Taller Boricua’s goal was and still is to build a “cultural corridor” from Museum Mile into Spanish Harlem.

Over 15 years ago the founders of Taller Boricua fought for and won the ability to found and create the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center along with Taller Boricua multicultural space and galleries within. We have been utilizing it for artistic, cultural and community activities in El Barrio ever since.

Apart from Taller Boricua’s own programming (Salsa Wednesdays, open poetry nights, film screenings, lectures and panels), the multicultural space is used by the community to celebrate milestones in their lives (memorials, weddings, baptisms and birthdays) as well as by other not-for-profits in Spanish Harlem to further their programming. To name a few: New York Latinas Against Domestic Violence, Danisarte, Community Works, Los Pleneros de la 21, Harlem Community Justice Center, 100 Hispanic Women, Hope Community, Pathways to Housing, Art for Change, Friends of Claridad, Cemi-Underground, Community Planning Board, Absolutely on 2/Latin Dance with Carmen Marrero, Little Sisters of Assumption, Community Voices, The Field, The Renaissance School, Artist in the Schools, The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, ArtCrawl Harlem. Zon de Barrio, Yerba Buena.

ONGOING PATTERN OF GENTRIFICATION

EDC’s release of the RFEI is just one more step towards the gentrification of Spanish Harlem and the continual dismantling of the efforts won by the Latino community. We have lost many important groups in the past few years such as Chica Luna and the Association for Hispanic Arts (AHA). It seems as if there is a concerted effort to erase our culture in El Barrio.