A fair deal for working New Yorkers

Labor Day is approaching once again. But this year, the holiday isn’t a celebration for many New Yorkers; it is instead a cruel reminder for hundreds of thousands of city residents who are unemployed, including those who recently lost their jobs during the pandemic.

And to add insult to injury — and fear to concern — this Labor Day also coincides with another dark date, when more than 750,000 New Yorkers will lose their enhanced unemployment benefits. In total, that adds up to nearly $2 billion a month less in income across the five boroughs. It also means far less money injected into our languishing local economy.

The danger of this financial cliff cannot be overstated. New Yorkers already face an eviction crisis. Rates of hunger and homelessness are at historic highs. And now the delta variant threatens the city’s economic outlook once again.

In other words, people will fall off the cliff and there will be no safety net to catch them. How they land will depend on swift, serious action from New York itself. As someone who was raised by a single mother who struggled to make ends meet, and who often needed help from the government that never arrived, I feel strongly we must act.

The state must immediately do two things to ensure that struggling New Yorkers are protected while we rebuild the economy. First, President Biden stated that American Rescue Plan funds given to the state can be used for enhanced unemployment benefits. That must happen as soon as possible.

Second, the billions-of-dollars in Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds available to renters facing eviction must be released much faster. I have spoken to Gov. Hochul about this, and she has already taken action that will improve speed.

But there is much more to do to get the rent money out the door at the needed rate — and the city can help. Specifically, it must work with the Office of Court Administration to get rental assistance to those we know for sure are at risk of eviction. And it must directly reach out to landlords who have tenants who qualify for the program but have not responded to apply for the funds.

If we do those things now, it will buy us a bit of time to right the city’s economic ship. But we must also simultaneously take steps to fix structural problems with our economy that put working people at risk long-term.

There are hundreds of thousands of jobs available in New York right now that employers can’t fill because they don’t have the applicants with the skills or experience to do the work. Many of these jobs require minimal training that could easily be completed in a month to six months.

Both government and the private sector can solve this problem by partnering to share information and resources in an unprecedented workforce development and deployment program. There are some efforts to do this already, but no sophisticated centralized system. We must create a digital platform that connects New Yorkers with training, basic skills and a universal job application. This platform should be created on an emergency basis with the full participation of the city’s major employers and by engaging community-based organizations.

Longer term, we have to focus on growing industries of the future such as the life sciences, cybersecurity, blockchain and green infrastructure. New York City is already at the intersection of innovative research, sophisticated investors and an excellent talent pool. We can attract new businesses and jobs in fast-growing industries through tax incentives, incubators, zoning tools and CUNY partnerships.

At the same time, we should invest far more city capital dollars in a massive green infrastructure program that creates well-paying construction jobs now and permanent jobs later for the maintenance and upgrading of new utilities and facilities that reduce carbon emissions, green our grid, and make the city a hub for industries such as wind power. Those investments won’t just create jobs and save our environment; they’ll also save us money in the long-term as New York becomes more sustainable.

Finally, we must improve our own safety net in the city. That is why I have proposed MyCity, a complete overhaul of how city services are deployed that uses a single portal for all benefits and will deliver them much more efficiently and effectively. And a significant boost to the city’s Earned Income Tax Credit match is critical to put money directly into the pockets of lower-income and middle-income New Yorkers.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a Labor Day for celebration; it’s a moment for retrenchment. In this fight against COVID and the financial crisis it wrought, government must do more to spur our economy and help those who are suffering. New Yorkers want to work and thrive. Let’s honor this holiday by working harder for them.