ew York is famous for its cultural institutions, but Mayor Bill de Blasio seems to think they’re run by bigots — and he’s moving to penalize them for it.
As The Post’s Julia Marsh reported Tuesday, the mayor’s minions say they’ll yank funds from any of 33 museums, performing-arts centers and so on that don’t meet de Blasio’s diversity requirements.
“These institutions won’t receive their full funding without demonstrating their commitment to equity and inclusion,” huffed Department of Cultural Affairs spokesman Ryan Max.
The mayor has been moving toward this for years, though Cultural Affairs boss Thomas Finkelpearl once claimed City Hall wasn’t “looking to be punitive.”
Thing is, there’s zero evidence that any of the institutions — the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall — discriminates against anyone based on race, gender or anything else. And unless there is, City Hall has no business dictating employment or hiring policies.
Worse, the mayor’s criteria are unclear; Max wouldn’t even say how City Hall would score the museums’ diversity plans, other than to claim it won’t impose quotas because they’re illegal. Ha! Quotas look to be exactly what de Blasio has in mind.
No matter that some institutions naturally have uneven appeal: The Schomburg Center, for instance, is likely to lure more black staffers; the Jewish Museum, more Jews.
“I can’t see how we can tie public funds to the ethnicity of an organization’s management,” rails City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-SI). He’s right: You can’t link the two — unless, that is, you care more about bean-counting than keeping New York’s cultural organizations great.