Grammy Awards Returning to New York After 15 Years Away -
By BEN SISARIOMAY 9, 2017
On Tuesday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio and executives from Madison Square Garden, CBS and the Recording Academy announced
that the Grammy Awards ceremony would be held in New York on Jan. 28, returning the event to the city for the first time in 15 years.
In just over a year on the job, Ms. Menin, 48, has ordered a study on the music industry’s economic impact on New York, arranged for the city to underwrite $30,000 in free rehearsal space for musicians, and announced a conference at New York University in June
that will examine two of the biggest forces on music in the city: technology and real estate.
“Bringing these awards back to the city will allow us to further support and foster the music industry in New York.”
The news — which most in the music industry had expected — came after months of negotiations
among the city, the Garden, its labor unions and the academy, which presents the awards.
“The music industry has never gotten the recognition at the city and state label for the impact
that it has in New York’s broader economy,” said Justin Kalifowitz, the chief executive of Downtown Music Publishing and a founder of the advocacy group New York Is Music.
A leaked invitation to a we-did-it dinner in New York last fall was followed by months of nonstatements and delays from the academy and Madison Square Garden, whose executives said
that detailed contracts — not to mention the scheduling of Knicks and Rangers games — needed to be worked out.
