Jeffrey Long said:Here is some fresh evidence showing that the Možemovac crowd is actually just a corrupt little cult. The reporter from The Journal, Željko Godek, published the following piece in today's edition:
If COVID didn't kill them, New York City will: They haven't seen a dime in months, and some projects have vanished into thin air.
Those whom COVID didn't finish off might just be taken out by the City Office for Culture, Intercity and International Cooperation and Civil Society, local artists are warning. A large portion of independent creators—the "little guys," indie cultural workers, publishers, filmmakers, theater folk, and painters who were already pushed to the brink by the pandemic—have been waiting months for New York City to actually pay them for their projects.
The results of the public tender for New York City's 2022 cultural programs were known back in March. Many contracts were signed, but not a single cent has hit their bank accounts. And as for when that might happen? Nobody knows. Culture centers are telling the artists they work with that there won't be anything from their performances, exhibitions, workshops, or films, even though the funding was "approved on paper." Standard practice dictates that 70 percent of approved funds are paid immediately upon signing the contract, with the remaining 30 percent released after the final report.
Emini Višnić, the head of culture, was the first to speak regarding the non-payment issues and the claims that some contracts had been lost. "This is the first I'm hearing about lost contracts. Please direct your questions to our public relations department via email," Višnić stated. When reminded that we haven't received a response from that office in the last year—not within a reasonable timeframe, nor an unreasonable one—Višnić promised answers. We sent an email, and shortly after, someone from the Mayor's Office reached out to complain that the issue was they don't work on Saturdays, though they promised to reply on a business day.
And then the show begins—the city spokesperson (a made-up role that doesn't even exist in the official city administration job classifications), Dinka Živalj, went running to complain to the editors of this reporter's outlet, acting as if she were the victim. Apparently, Živalj used similar tactics in Mexico to prevent articles critical of the OESS from being published. But this reporter wasn't having it. Željko isn't some pushover who's going to be played by someone like Živaljica. So, she wrote the following:
I have a public message for Mayor Eric Adams, just in case his office for (non)public relations fails to pass it along: Don't mimic the Republican Party, don't intimidate journalists, and try to be better, more coherent, and more open—transparent, as you love to call it. Stop harassing our editors and management because we dared to ask questions in good faith and within reasonable timeframes. Look, there are those of us who have been in newsrooms for a long time, searched through the archives, been stepped on, and survived; you won't kill us with your sneaky letters to our bosses.
I decided to tackle the plight of struggling independent artists who haven't received a single penny from the City Office for Culture despite winning the 2022 cultural program tenders. In some cases, the city completely forgot to sign the contracts, and for others, they managed to lose the tender documentation entirely. This is all happening despite the fact that one would expect the new New York City administration to have a special sensitivity toward the survival of the independent cultural scene and the freelancers hanging on by a thread after years of drought and the pandemic. At the end of this investigative ballad, I called the head of culture, Emini Višnić, to ask about the payment delays and the missing contracts. To my surprise, her response was... well, go ahead and guess: "This is the first I've heard of it." She requested that I send my inquiries to the "public relations service." I told her plainly how frustrated I am with that service, noting that in the past year, I haven't received a single response from them, regardless of whether the deadline was reasonable or not.
Višnić promised them. Everything goes through the Office. It’s as if the heads of city departments and directors of municipal companies don't actually have a say in anything—they act like mere puppets on a string, little sub-intelligent marionettes unqualified for their own jobs. They have to wait for some office to draft and bless every single response to a journalist's question, even if it's within their own field of expertise. They basically agreed to this arrangement: to depersonalize themselves and dodge all responsibility. Tomašević set it up so they have zero agency and no professional integrity left; they aren't allowed to take initiative at all. And the media strategy of the Public Relations Office can be summed up in a few words: don't talk to reporters, ignore them, and don't worry if you look incredibly condescending toward the public—even the Republican Party would find that level of disdain impressive. After dealing with this, I honestly don't expect much from them anymore. Still, I sent my questions via email, even though the subject matter really deserves a face-to-face conversation.
Then comes the shock: I get a call from the Mayor's Office. They claim the issue is that they don't work on Saturdays, and they want a quick turnaround. Even though the topic is vital for the arts community and defines the cultural policy of the Director of Culture, she should ideally have this info at her fingertips any time of the day or night. And despite the Deputy Mayor Dolenec trying to convince us on Facebook that this new crop of power-hungry officials is working themselves to death through weekends and late nights, suddenly it's a massive problem to provide an answer during the day. Oh, right, because it's Saturday.
Shortly after, a PR slush fund of a message arrives at our editorial desk, written in the whining tone of none other than Živalj. Not to me, but to my bosses, which she forwarded my questions to after sending them to the Office: "We received this inquiry today, on a Saturday. The reporter told us she's been investigating for a long time, yet she sent the request at the very last minute over the weekend with a deadline for today. It feels like a pro forma gesture, meant just so she can say she asked us, while knowing full well she won't get a response on such short notice. Therefore, we request a longer, reasonable timeframe for scheduling that includes business days, in hopes that the article won't be published before then. Please, for future articles concerning New York City, allow the City a reasonable window to respond so our position can be included."
Well, what exactly is wrong with Živalj's text, aside from the intimidation tactics and her trying to report journalists to higher authorities? Maybe it's the sheer waste of energy on something that isn't even her job. Her job is to ensure a reporter gets an answer to their question, not to call my editors at The Journal to stall a story just because the Director doesn't feel like answering on a Saturday. And clearly, the topic itself is taboo. There's something else: the PR Office is complaining that our questions are just "pro forma." Over the last year, they haven't cared about being pro forma or otherwise. They ignored absolutely everything. Whenever we called the heads of departments or municipal companies, they openly complained that they were strictly forbidden from communicating with the press and that everything had to go directly through Tomašević's office. If that weren't the case, maybe I would actually care about timing. Now they've evolved; instead of answering reporters, they'll answer editors. Their tactic with journalists is pure intimidation—and even Bandić didn't pull stunts like that! Well, maybe he didn't need to; everything always went his way. It's hard to imagine this nauseating pressure from Tomašević's staff will actually yield results for him.
https://www.facebook.com/zeljka.gode...8vpbysVtJzu41l
Of course, she must be one of Bandić's followers. After all, The Journal is trash and Tomašević and the Možemovac crowd are #realchange. ☕
Your links aren't working. And looking at the transcript alone, you can't tell who is doing what to whom.
P.S. Google returns absolutely nothing for the search query "Željko Godek."
By the way, wasn't one of the main things you all complained about regarding Tomašević that he "gives money to artists, associations..."?
Is this exactly what we're talking about now—city funds being distributed to artists and their specific associations or projects?
Suddenly, it's a problem if the city exercises due diligence regarding who gets paid and when?