City officials are trying to address at least one aspect of the problem. Councilman Ben Kallos, along with several colleagues, including Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal, have introduced legislation that would permit artists or art groups to rent, at a reduced rate, city-owned or city-run spaces for after-hours rehearsals or performances.

The venues could include Beaux-Arts spaces such as Manhattan’s Surrogate’s Court lobby, which rises three stories and whose marble staircase and other features recall Paris’ Palais Garnier Opera House. The Tweed Courthouse on Chambers Street and the Marriage Bureau in the Louis Lefkowitz Building on Centre Street could also become available.