Bill de Blasio Public Advocate for the City of New York JOBS FOR ALL NEW YORKERS, GROWTH FOR ALL NEIGHBORHOODS In April, the New Yorker Magazine released a series of infographics charting income inequality across the New York City subway system. The images, such as the one below, paint a troubling picture of two very different worlds, just a short distance apart. INEQUALITY AND NEW YORK’S SUBWAY sso2.c00 © Panrace tos; svonsoato ay XEFOX New York City is home to more millionaires than Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston combined. Meanwhile, nearly half of all New Yorkers are near or below the poverty level. The city's middle class isn’t just shrinking. It’s in real danger of disappearing altogether. To combat this growing income inequality and create new opportunities for everyday New Yorkers, the City needs a new economic development strategy that puts supporting new and neglected industries, ‘entrepreneurs and workers of the five boroughs at the forefront. 1. Eliminate wasteful tax expenditures and corporate retention deals = End the Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP) and wasteful economic development tax expenditures, saving the City at least $250 Million per year 2. Create a world-class education, training and job placement system * Restore the City University of New York (CUNY) as the central gateway to a quality education and a good job * Create an integrated training and job placement system connecting Career and Technical Education high schools, CUNY, economic development hubs, and businesses3. * Ensure lower-skilled workers have access to comprehensive training, apprenticeship and job placement programs * Train 16,000 New Yorkers for nursing positions and create comprehensive career pathways in the health sector * Help manufacturing thrive In New York City, including nurturing the emerging advanced manufacturing sector = Ensure that all public contracts, particularly construction projects, promote workforce development and job placement for low-income residents Diversify NYC’s economic base and bring jobs to neighborhoods in all five boroughs * Create economic development hubs in every neighborhood to coordinate local job creation efforts * Establish new revolving loan funds; use local economic hubs as “loan officers” for targeting loans for neighborhood entrepreneurs and neglected industry clusters * Use portion of City pension funds to provide equity capital for neighborhood businesses, including strategic support for complementary firms in industry clusters * Create a job creation coordinator in the Mayor's office to coordinate all cross-department job creation and workforce development efforts Cultivate entrepreneurs and help small businesses thrive and grow * End the fine assault on small businesses and instead help local businesses navigate licensing, regulatory and other requirements to build their businesses = Promote entrepreneurship training at economic development hubs, with a particular focus on immigrant entrepreneurs = Empower Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) and industry-specific networks to negotiate bulk rates on shared services * Give local businesses a real shot at government contracts * Expand and reform the Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) Program to encompass more contracts ye wage standards to drive economic development in low-income neighborhoods * Require a living wage of $11.50 per hour for all businesses receiving $1 million or more of public funds * Ensure all businesses receiving City subsidies have a plan on how they will provide healtheare * Demand local wage power for New York City to set local minimum wage rates * Expand paid sick days policy to include 300,000 New Yorkers left out of the recent law * Deny public contracts, public subsidies, and business licenses to employers that repeatedly violate workplace standards * Create a dedicated legal services fund to support low-income workers challenging wage theft and other workplace violations Office of the Public Advocate | 1 Centre St, 18th Fir, New York, NY 10007 | 212.669.7200 | http://advocate.nyc.gov