The art historian and controversial curator of 20th-Century Art at New York's Metropolitan Museum, Henry Geldzahler is perhaps best-known in Britain through the numerous drawings of him by David Hockney. Earlier this year he was appointed Cultural Affairs Commissioner for New York by the incoming Mayor, and in conversation with Philip French he discusses the nature of this newly created post, the problems of financing cultural activities in America, and the special role of the arts in New York life.