BRAC leaders accused of misconduct
Community Board 6 meeting gets heated as some ask for BRAC overhaul
BY JASON COHEN
A coalition alleged that the leadership
at the Bronx River Art Center
(BRAC) has run a hostile work environment,
hired people without being
able to pay them and is poorly
run overall.
On Oct. 14, an intense Community
Board 6 meeting took place where
this group tried to show why Gail
Nathan, executive director of BRAC
and her staff need to go. However,
CB6 did not support a motion of their
revitalization plan.
The coalition was led by Laura
James, the founder and director of
BX200, and Dr. Sonia James-Wilson,
who has had a career in urban education
for more than 35 years. So far, 600
people have signed a petition calling
for the overhaul of BRAC.
At the meeting, the coalition said
that they wanted funding stopped for
BRAC, called for the district attorney
to investigate the organization for
the misuse of funds and labor violations
and also wanted the leadership
thrown out.
“Our concern is BRAC is not fulfi lling
its stated mission,” James-Wilson
said. “BRAC is supposed to provide
affordable arts and programming to
youth. The kinds of things people are
concerned with are things going on
for years.”
In September, she contacted Nathan
and the board via email, but
neither party replied. On top of that,
James-Wilson said she found it odd
that the organization recently appointed
10 new board members.
“The original plan was to try to
work with the board to turn the organization
around,” she explained. “We
do not have faith the board leadership
will have the community’s best
interest at heart.”
Several former employees told
James-Wilson about the toxic work environment
and the need for change.
At the Oct. 14 meeting, the room
was split on keeping BRAC as is or removing
Nathan and the leadership for
a fresh start.
Keeping BRAC
Angel Chevrestt a former photography
teacher at BRAC praised the facility
and Nathan for what it does for
the community.
“Gail has done an amazing job with
BRAC,” he said. “BRAC and Gail Nathan
have done so much for the community
over the past 20 plus years. If
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The Oct. 14 CB6 meeting got heated over discussions of BRAC leadership Screenshot
more can be done, then why not work
with Gail?”
Artist Irina Danilova fi rst met Nathan
through BRAC in 1998 when she
was sent there to give a presentation.
After emigrating from the Ukraine
to the states and eventually moving
to the Bronx, she truly felt welcome
at BRAC.
Danilova is currently an instructor
at CUNY College in Brooklyn and said
they do not even have the equipment
that BRAC has.
“Through all the years I was constantly
amazed with Gail’s enthusiasm,
how professionally she runs
BRAC and all she accomplished,”
Danilova said.
Mikey Wheeler, a former employee
and student at BRAC, was shocked at
all of the hatred towards Nathan and
the facility. Wheeler met Nathan when
he was 14 and started out there as
a volunteer.
He watched her make fl yers, hang
them in businesses and show up for
the community.
“It’s been a honor to be a part of
such an amazing cultural center piece
in the Bronx,” Wheeler said. “I fi nd it
redundant to attack the center and not
actively have ways to improve or even
taken action to work with the center
to improve.”
Against BRAC
Eileen Walsh said her experiences
with BRAC as an independent
curator and volunteer at times were
very negative.
“It was exciting to see the new
space, but the actual programs were
mostly all brochures and no actual
program,” Walsh said. “Each
experience was made as diffi cult
as possible by administration. We
deserve better.”
Artist Rachel Sydlowski and illustrator
Charles Esperanza shared
her sentiments.
“As an artist, the River Rising experience
was not a positive one,” Sydlowski
shared. “BRAC needs to do better
for the community and artists.”
“I have worked at BRAC for two
years and have been witness of the
toxic environment,” Esperanza added.
“Something must be done!”
One resident who attended BRAC
for 10 plus years and taught there from
2006 to 2010, witnessed several teachers
and supporters unnecessarily
fi red and turned away due to mismanagement,
herself included.
“The turnover rate at BRAC is
through the roof,” she said. “This
isn’t about a month of emails. This
is about years of misrepresentation
and mismanagement.”
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