Who

As Mayor Bloomberg's commissioner of cultural affairs, Kate Levin doles out a total of $150 million every year to hundreds of arts and cultural organizations in the city.

Backstory

Raised on the Upper East Side—her father was a court reporter, her mom a writer—Levin got her first taste of politics working as an assistant to Mayor Ed Koch in the 1980s, when she very briefly served as interim head of the city's cultural affairs department. Levin left city government to work for the Jim Henson Foundation and the Brooklyn Museum, then returned to school in the 1990s to earn a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. She joined the faculty of the City College of New York in 1996 as an assistant professor of English Renaissance literature and theater history, and earned tenure in 2001, but she was soon lured back to city government. In 2002, she took a leave of absence from CCNY after Mayor Bloomberg tapped her to serve as cultural affairs commissioner. She took over for Schuyler Chapin, Giuliani's appointee, and now reports to Deputy Mayor Patti Harris.

On the job

Levin's job as cultural affairs commissioner is to serve as the city's liaison to 1,400 art and cultural institutions and organizations that receive city funding. Most importantly, though, Levin doles out $150 million from the city's coffers every year to arts institutions large and small. When she took over in 2002, the city budget dictated that 85 percent of the city's cultural funds go to support what are called the "Cultural Institutions Group"—big museums, gardens and other groups that occupy city-owned buildings. In 2007, Levin succeeded in persuading the powers that be to change the formula and award grants based on a competitive process; the reaction from city institutions was largely positive.

Keeping score

She pulls in $160,621 as the city's cultural commissioner.

Personal

She's married to sculptor Mark di Suvero, who started the Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens. They live on Front Street with their daughter.