How to stay a city of immigrants

It’s been heartening to see so many New Yorkers resolving to stick with the city through this pandemic, powerfully countering the few, mostly affluent residents who loudly announced their intention to leave New York. But city policymakers would be foolish not to take the flight risk seriously — or to assume that only hedge fund managers might head for the exits.

Even before the pandemic, many of those leaving the city were working poor New Yorkers, heading to Charlotte, San Antonio and other places where income from their low-wage jobs stretched farther. This economic crisis — with its disproportionate impact on low-wage fields like restaurants, hotels and nail salons — has greatly magnified the problem and could hasten the departures of working New Yorkers.

Now, the city may be most vulnerable to losing immigrant New Yorkers, many of whom are facing unprecedented economic hardships.

In many communities, more than half of immigrants have lost their main source of income as a result of the crisis, according to a recent report by the Center for an Urban Future. Immigrants are over-represented in the hardesthit industries. For example, while fewer than 10% of residents on the Upper East Side work in the four industries where layoffs have been especially prevalent — restaurants, hotels, retail and personal care services — the share is 27% in Elmhurst, 25% in Corona, and 24% in Norwood, Highbridge, Sunset Park and Flushing.

Despite this heavy toll, a shockingly small number of the city’s immigrants have benefited from the federal government’s cash relief efforts. The result has been a massive uptick in food and housing insecurity.

Most immigrants will remain in New York because they have family here. But they have more mobility options than ever, since so many other cities now boast large enough immigrant populations to offer the amenities, services and sense of community that appeals to newcomers.

An exodus of immigrants would be a tremendous loss for New York. Immigrants played an indispensable role in New York’s long road back from the 1970s economic crisis. After the city lost 800,000 people during that crisis, immigrants replenished the population, accounting for all of the city’s population growth — and then some — between 1980 and 2018, when the city’s foreign-born population increased by 1.4 million while the overall city population grew by 1.3 million.

Immigrants also sparked dramatic turnarounds in the business life of neighborhoods that emptied out in the 70s and were rife with vacant storefronts — including Flushing, Washington Heights, Brighton Beach and Richmond Hill. And they were catalysts for job creation when the city needed it most. Indeed, immigrants start more than half of all new businesses in the city.

What can city officials do to stop an exodus and continue attracting new immigrants?

Push Congress hard to ensure that immigrants are included in the next federal relief package, and create a local Excluded Workers Fund for those who still don’t qualify. The mayor should lean on corporate partners — perhaps those that rely on immigrant workers — to kick in part of the funds.

Create a displaced workers voucher program that helps outof-work New Yorkers upgrade their skills while unemployed, with funds allowed to be spent on English language classes, bridge programs, job training and community college certificate programs.

Establish a small grant program for New Yorkers to start new businesses between now and the end of the year, with the funds only going to individuals who can show they lost their main source of income since March.

Open up city parks every Saturday in September and October for a designated number of street vendors. Vendors, predominantly immigrants, are reeling.

Develop a marketing campaign that urges all New Yorkers to remain in New York — with many of the ads targeting immigrant communities in different languages.

The city doesn’t need to beg immigrants — or billionaires — to stay, but both are critical to our recovery. We need a plan to keep them here.

Bowles is executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a think tank focused on expanding economic opportunity in New York.