Louder: The Pandemic’s Toll on New York’s Arts

September 25, 2020

By Caryn Ganz

Pop Music Editor

If this were a normal Friday, I’d be thinking about whether I had the energy to go to a show tonight. Or tomorrow. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds would have been at Barclays Center this weekend. I may have popped by the Mercury Lounge over the past few days and had an encounter with its legendary doorwoman, Maggie, who has a propensity for telling me I’m not on the list (nothing personal, this is just part of the deal).

Of course, none of this is happening. The impact on me is negligible; I miss live music, but I will be OK. The impact on the city I live in and love is gargantuan. Lives upended; jobs lost; beloved establishments shuttering. “Before the pandemic, the city boasted 280,000 jobs in the fine and performing arts,” a team of our Culture reporters write. “Between April and July, 153,000 of those jobs disappeared.” That statistic is from a package in Sunday’s Arts & Leisure looking at this “lost weekend” in the city’s arts world: a deep dive into its economic consequences along with personal stories of those who have been so greatly affected.

Maggie Wrigley, who has helmed the Mercury Lounge Door for more than two decades, is not at work today. “For New York to not have live music — it’s like the ground has gone out from underneath us,” she said. I look forward to being turned away as soon as possible.

Also this week: Jon Pareles on the reissue of Prince’s landmark “Sign O’ the Times.” (I was delighted to discover Jon had written our original review of the album in 1987. It’s rare to get to watch a critic’s opinion on such an important artist evolve over the decades; this is special.) Rob Tannenbaum spoke with Lenny Kravitz about his new memoir and his legacy of cool; Ben Sisario reported on Noelle Scaggs from Fitz and the Tantrums’ efforts to help bring diversity to the concert industry; and Jon Caramanica gave us an affectionate education on the soul musician Roy Hammond, who made a heavily sampled track called “Impeach the President” that changed hip-hop.

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Dina Litovsky for The New York Times

New York’s Arts Shutdown: The Economic Crisis in One Lost Weekend

We zero in on one moment in New York City’s cultural calendar that’s been wiped clean — what it means, what it looks like, what it cost and what’s ahead.

By Dina Litovsky, Victor Llorente, Daniel Arnold, Michael Paulson, Elizabeth A. Harris and Graham Bowley

THE CRITICS

Jeff Katz/The Prince Estate

Critic’s Pick

Prince’s Vault Reveals a Brilliant Trove With ‘Sign O’ the Times’

The reissue of his 1987 masterpiece unveils dozens of unheard songs.

By Jon Pareles

Sony Latin

The Playlist

Jennifer Lopez and Maluma’s Romantic Duel, and 11 More New Songs

Hear tracks by Oneohtrix Point Never, Bryson Tiller, La Dame Blanche and others.

By Jon Pareles, Jon Caramanica and Giovanni Russonello

PROFILES

Dana Scruggs for The New York Times

How Lenny Kravitz Keeps His Cool

In a new memoir, the rock musician breaks down the first 25 years of his life, when he found his sound, his voice and his commitment to love and nonviolence.

By Rob Tannenbaum

Suzie Howell for The New York Times

Idles Are Throwing a Post-Punk Revolution, and Everyone’s Invited

The British band known for blending politics with personal passion is releasing a new album, “Ultra Mono,” that takes aim at faux patriotism, class inequality and sexism.

By Matt Hendrickson

PERSONAL ESSAY

I Was Bullied for Being Arab. Nine Inch Nails Threw Me a Lifeline.

As a teenage girl paralyzed with fear, one of the darkest albums of the 1990s, “The Downward Spiral,” gave me the guts to rebel against my tormentors.

By Maya Salam

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THE TOURING BUSINESS

Texas Isaiah for The New York Times

One Musician’s Plan to Make the Concert Industry More Diverse

Noelle Scaggs from Fitz and the Tantrums has an initiative, Diversify the Stage, that aims to direct more touring business opportunities to people of color, women, and L.G.B.T.Q. people.

By Ben Sisario

NEWS

Bill Murray Faces Legal Threat From Doobie Brothers

A lawyer for the band demands that the actor pay for using the song “Listen to the Music” in an ad for his William Murray golf wear.

By Tiffany Hsu

the charts

YoungBoy Never Broke Again Earns a Third No. 1 Album in a Year

“Top” opened at the top of the Billboard 200 with the equivalent of 126,000 sales, demonstrating the power of frequently delivering new music.

By Ben Sisario

OBITUARIES

Jason Moore/Alamy

Roy Hammond, Soul Singer Who Birthed a Hip-Hop Heartbeat, Dies at 81

He wrote and produced the Honey Drippers’ “Impeach the President,” which has been sampled countless times and changed the sound of New York rap.

By Jon Caramanica

those we’ve lost

Sterling Magee, Bluesman Known as ‘Satan,’ Dies at 84

As half of the duo Satan and Adam, he played blues on the streets of Harlem and later on stages around the world. He died of complications of Covid-19.

By Steven Kurutz

Juliette Gréco, Grande Dame of Chanson Française, Dies at 93

The muse of bohemian postwar Paris, she became an internationally known actress and singer.

By Anita Gates

those we’ve lost

Tommy DeVito, Original Member of the Four Seasons, Dies at 92

He sang behind Frankie Valli in a hit-making harmony group that gained a new audience when “Jersey Boys” stormed Broadway. He died of the coronavirus.

By Neil Genzlinger