Reimagine NYC’s economy to drive our recovery

Moments of crisis often provide the opportunity for comprehensive change. While our city continues to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also faced with such an opportunity: to reimagine our economy in a way that works better for all New Yorkers.

But this will not happen without a clear plan backed by real investment. That is why, as New Yorkers with deep ties to the business and philanthropic communities, we have answered a call from Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul to create a vision for the future of work in America’s largest city. Working with a “New” New York panel of civic leaders and industry experts, we will develop concrete strategies for an inclusive and intentional economic recovery with a focus on our central business districts.

Even before the pandemic, we were seeing the impacts of the changing nature of work on our city. There were more individuals shifting to gig work or self-employment; companies moving to co-working or hybrid working environments; small businesses of every kind being disrupted by technology; and wages for many workers continuing to stagnate.

But low unemployment and a strong economy helped mask from broad view the inequities that prevented all New Yorkers from sharing in prosperity. The city was home to nearly 4.7 million jobs, the citywide poverty rate was the lowest in over 20 years (14.5% based on federal standards), and unemployment was at an all-time low (3.7%) with over 60% labor force participation.

COVID-19 has upended that reality and exposed the vulnerabilities that were there all along. And while this has been painful for many New Yorkers, it is also providing the opportunity to address long-term issues and build a more resilient, inclusive economic future.

One place where we have the biggest current problems — and most exciting potential for reinvention — is in Manhattan’s central business districts.

Midtown and Downtown Manhattan account for more than 464 million square feet of office space. At their pre-COVID peak, they were home to more than 1.5 million jobs, with 95% of workers coming to the office every day. At the height of the pandemic, that number dropped to less than 5%.

Since then, we have seen early signs of resurgence, but in-person office attendance in the New York metro area remains below 40% of pre-pandemic occupancy. Our economy is an ecosystem, and when our business districts decline, it doesn’t just impact office workers or property owners. It hurts the corner deli and the dry cleaner, not to mention the people who work hard every day cleaning, maintaining and securing our office buildings.

While many New Yorkers will eventually return to the office, either part or full time, many will not, and in any event, we can’t return to the pre-pandemic status quo that left too many New Yorkers behind. We need to reimagine our neighborhoods as more inclusive, resilient live-work-play communities, much as lower Manhattan was reimagined after Sept. 11, 2001.

At the same time, we want to build on increased economic activity in commercial corridors in all five boroughs, where New Yorkers who now find themselves working from home are spending more than before at restaurants, coffee shops and other local businesses.

Our work will be centered around the people of this city, and how we can get more of them on pathways to family-sustaining careers, while driving a virtuous cycle that attracts and grows both the workforce and industries of the future.

We will identify high-impact ideas to address the changing needs of companies, workers and residents stemming from the pandemic as well as the longstanding challenges facing underserved workers and entrepreneurs. And we will identify ways to diversify our economy to better withstand future shocks and the changing nature of work.

Our recommendations will be clear and achievable actions for an equitable and sustainable economy. And — importantly — we will find places where city and state government need to work together, through funding, legislation or leveraging public land, to drive the change that is needed.

Success will not be measured by a report. The proof will come from the change we see on our streets and in our offices over the next decade. Did we transform our business districts to be the foundation of a true 21st-century city? Did New York make the necessary investments in transit, childcare and placemaking to make it the best city for in-office work? Did we help address systemic barriers to equity and create shared and durable prosperity?

These are big questions. But this is also an extraordinary time — of challenge and of opportunity. If we can come together as a city to plan the work that is needed, and put that plan into action, there is no question that our best days remain ahead.

Buery, former deputy mayor under Bill de Blasio and CEO of Robin Hood, and Doctoroff, former deputy mayor under Mike Bloomberg and former CEO of Sidewalk Labs, are co-chairs of the ‘New’ New York Panel.