http://tallerboricua.wordpress.com/fact-sheet/

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (EDC) AND THE REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (RFEI)

_On September 17, 2010, EDC informed Taller Boricua that a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) would be issued for its leased multicultural space in the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center.

_EDC’s rationale for the RFEI is that the Julia de Burgos theater space should be rented together with Taller Boricua’s multicultural space because of the lack of soundproofing between spaces. No other issues were brought to Taller Boricua at that time.

_EDC issued the RFEI on September 30, 2010. The RFEI states that EDC has the authority to select any group of its choice to take over Taller Boricua’s leased space without consideration from current tenants in the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center, Taller Boricua, Community Board 11 (CB11), or the greater community of East Harlem.

_Should EDC follow through with its plan and terminate Taller Boricua’s tenancy of the multicultural space, it will potentially cripple Taller Boricua’s community arts and cultural programming, including events associated with its art exhibitions. Apart from Taller Boricua’s own programming, the multicultural space is used by the community to celebrate milestones in their lives as well as by other not-for-profits in Spanish Harlem to further their programming.

_This is not the first time EDC has taken such unilateral action without community involvement. La Marqueta faced a similar RFEI. 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.

_ Community Board 11 has requested that EDC hold off on issuing the RFEI in order to discuss how the cultural center will be utilized.

_Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito strongly supports the RFEI. Her reasons are broad and subjective such as “activation,” “limited access” and “underutilization.” These undefined statements inaccurately and unfairly group the Julia de Burgos Theater and Taller Boricua’s multicultural space together into those categories.

_Joining the theater and all its real problems with Taller Boricua’s space below confuses the actual facts. It is a calculated move that mischaracterizes the real situation.

JULIA DE BURGOS LATINO CULTURAL CENTER BUILDING, CURRENT MANAGEMENT AND ORIGINAL VISION
_The New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) manages the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center overall. Taller Boricua is a paying tenant for our multicultural space. The RFEI takes away our lease on the multicultural space within the building and joins it with the Julia de Burgos Theater.

_The Julia de Burgos Theater is NOT managed or administrated by Taller Boricua. It is City/EDC owned and managed. The THEATER is extremely underutilized and mismanaged. It has limited access and use due to its desperate need for logistical repairs and renovations.

_In addition to Taller Boricua, the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center houses the Heritage School and three Puerto Rican not-for-profits, including Los Pleneros de la 21, the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, and Taller Boricua.

_Taller Boricua was one of the founders of the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center over 15 years ago and has been an ideal tenant ever since (paying rent, insurance and upkeep). Taller Boricua provides active cultural programming to the community in accordance with the original vision for the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center.

_Heritage High School currently occupies two floors of the building. It was located in the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center as a temporary solution to maintain a steady cash flow while the not-for-profits that originally applied to be in the building (and were denied for lack of funds) were able to acquire funding.

_The original visioning plan for the Julia de Burgos was that the entire building would be available to arts and culture not-for-profits groups and programming.

_At her visioning session, many community leaders requested a halt to the RFEI to discuss the issues within the community and to give Taller Boricua due process. She ignored them. She has not approached the current tenants of Julia de Burgos Cultural Center to discuss or define clearly the issues she states have been brought to her. She has not attempted to pursue any alternatives such as relocating the Heritage School so as to make room for other local and cultural not-for-profits.

_As Founders and current occupants of the Julia de Burgos we deserve to be informed and given the chance to clearly understand and correct whatever issues were brought to Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito’s attention. We deserve inclusive dialogue and alternative solutions — not ultimatums and deadlines.

RFEI PITS EL BARRIO’S COMMUNITY AGAINST EACH OTHER
_This RFEI has caused controversy and in-fighting among East Harlem community members, dividing the Latino community rather than unifying them through positive collective development of the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center. Divide and conquer— that is how gentrification of an existing community starts.

_Members of the Cultural Affairs Committee to CB11 have officially recused themselves from handling matters concerning the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center due to a conflict of interest. Cultural Affairs Committee Board members Aurora Flores and Celia Ramirez intend to apply under the RFEI issued by EDC.

_Releasing the RFEI and then giving additional reasons are calculated moves. After-the-fact explanations of “limited access” and “under use” are subjective, broad terms that deserve to be quantified and qualified. If under use of the theater is the real issue than allocating funds to renovate it and make it usable is the answer. It is not necessary to cause this damaging controversy within the community.

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. The “issue” of soundproofing the theater is an opportunity for jobs for workers in Spanish Harlem and a revival of the theater’s use – not a cause for dividing the community.

_Starting in the 1960’s, a time when Spanish Harlem was ignored and ostracized 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 in 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.

_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
An RFEI does not justify taking away Taller Boricua’s space to allow EDC and the City to avoid fixing the theater. Forcing Taller to participate in an RFEI for a space we already occupy and use is wrong. It is disrespectful and dismissive of our history and current cultural programming.

_It is also disrespectful and dismissive of all the other current tenants of the Julia de Burgos who also have active, ongoing cultural programming: Los Pleneros de la 21 and the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater

_To ignore and try to undermine the history and the contributions of a community’s leaders means you have no intention of insuring that community’s future.

_If long term productivity and continued growth of arts and culture in El Barrio was the true mission, than an RFEI that gives EDC (a Development Corporation) full decision-making and selection power would not be the process (see page 6 of the RFEI application).

_EDC’s issuance of the RFEI is just one more step towards the gentrification of Spanish Harlem and the continual dismantling 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). The deliberate and unilateral action of EDC gives the impression that there is a concerted effort to erase our culture in El Barrio.