Mayor Mamdani appoints Rafael Espinal to keep NYC the ‘creative capital of the world'
The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment handles permits and licensing, workforce development and incentives for creative projects as well as oversight of the city's public media outlets.
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Rafael Espinal as the next commissioner for the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment in Red Hook. The vibrant waterfront neighborhood has attracted artists of all different backgrounds and has been the scene setter for countless movies and films.
Espinal, a former Brooklyn council member and executive director for the Freelancers Union, will be tasked with ensuring the city “remains a place where artists and creatives can afford to live and work,” according to the mayor.
Espinal will report to Julie Su, the deputy mayor for economic justice.
"As commissioner, I will work to keep New York the creative capital of the world, not just a place where great work gets made, but a place where the people who make that work can actually live," said Espinal.
To uphold his vision, he will prioritize partnerships with labor unions in the state to expand good paying union jobs.
“You cannot tell the story of New York without the artists who have shaped it,” said Mayor Mamdani. “Yet, the cost-of-living crisis is driving creatives out of our city. That is a loss we cannot afford. As Commissioner, Rafael Espinal will support our city's artists and help ensure New York City remains a place that every artist can call home. He has led this work nationally, fighting for the rights and protections of independent workers and he will bring that fight right here to New York City.”
City Council Speaker Julie Menin, the former commissioner of MOME, says the film industry is an economic driver worth $104 billon, with over 305,000 jobs.
"There is actually more jobs in media and entertainment in New York City than there are in the financial sector," said Menin. "There is a lot riding on this."
Menin says she does not support bringing back a city tax credit for production companies to film in New York. Currently, the state offers a 30% tax credit to eligible production companies for expenses, that includes production costs directly related to the film and wages.
"We have a good system in place," said Menin.
The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment handles permits and licensing, workforce development and incentives for creative projects as well as oversight of the city's public media outlets.
The mayor said he will be withdrawing rules that former mayor Eric Adams proposed on the last day of his administration that would change the way press credentials are regulated.
"We will be withdrawing those proposed rules…We view a number of those proposals as being an attack on the press, the free press and there is no need for us to be advancing that same vision," the mayor said.
Mamdani said that when going through the specific proposals that the intent was not to strengthen the publics access to information or the way the mayor's office works with the press corps but felt as though it was to tighten and restrict access to the presses ability to engage with the mayor.
