# “There are other cities”: Is New York City still a musical haven in 2026?

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/there-are-other-cities-is-new-york-city-still-a-musical-haven-in-2026/
- Published: 2026-08-02T21:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-25T18:10:16+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/is-new-york-city-still-a-musical-haven-in-2026/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Article questions if New York remains a viable hub for emerging musicians.
- Gentrification and high rents have eroded cheap DIY spaces and squats.
- Patti Smith accused of profiting from nostalgia while urging artists elsewhere.

## Summary

An article for Far Out Magazine questions whether New York City remains a genuine haven for musical creativity in 2026, contrasting its storied history as the birthplace of jazz, punk and hip-hop with today's soaring rents and gentrification. It weighs punk icon Patti Smith's long-standing warnings that the city has "closed itself off" to young, struggling artists against the continued emergence of notable acts from the city, questioning whether her nostalgia for old New York now obscures the economic barriers facing aspiring musicians.

The piece cites Smith's 2010 advice for artists to seek out cheaper cities such as Detroit or Poughkeepsie, and quotes Bodega's Ben Hozie accusing her of profiting from "nostalgia" merchandise at bookshops like The Strand. It notes that current New York acts such as Bodega, Gustaf, Cumgirl8, Jeffrey Lewis and Brooklyn's Geese show the city still produces notable music, but argues that the cheap rent, squats and DIY spaces that once enabled scenes like Smith's CBGB-era punk movement have largely vanished, making it unlikely New York could host a comparably cohesive artistic movement again.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.