250 Ideas from New Yorkers to Revive NYC's Economy, Spark Good Jobs, and Build a More Equitable City
Editor's note:
A version of this article originally appeared on the Center for an Urban Future.
July 29, 2021
Today, the Center for an Urban Future released a new blueprint for New York City’s economic recovery, featuring nearly 250 concrete ideas from more than 175 New Yorkers to spur a lasting and equitable economic recovery in New York. The Urban Future center is an independent, nonpartisan policy organization that uses fact-based research to elevate important and often overlooked issues onto the radar of policymakers and advance practical solutions that strengthen New York and help all New Yorkers participate in the city’s rising prosperity.
The ideas shared in interviews, email correspondence, and roundtable meetings from March to May 2021 come from small business owners, CEOs, labor leaders, community advocates, nonprofit practitioners, artists, college presidents, and former government officials. The respondents, who represent all five boroughs, were asked for their ideas on how to spark an immediate economic recovery; how to address structural challenges that have arisen or been exacerbated due to the pandemic; and how to rebuild a more equitable economy for the long term. Leaders from Columbia University and Upper Manhattan also participated, including:
- Wafaa El-Sadr, University Professor and Dr. Mathilde Krim-amfAR Chair of Global Health
- Jeffrey Shaman, Epidemiologist and Director, Climate and Health Program, Mailman School of Public Health
- Carol O’Cleireacain, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia SIPA; former Director, Mayor's Office of Management and Budget, and Commissioner, NYC Department of Finance
- Orin Herskowitz, Executive Director, Columbia Technology Ventures
- Clayton Banks, CEO, Silicon Harlem
- Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
- Christine Kovich, Co-Founder, Harlem Biospace
- Kenneth T. Jackson, Barzun Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University; President Emeritus, New-York Historical Society; Editor in Chief, The Encyclopedia of New York City
Organized into 10 core principles, the nearly 250 ideas include concrete policy suggestions for bringing back the roughly 500,000 jobs lost over the past year, strengthening small businesses, and boosting the hard-hit arts sector. They also include ideas for helping New Yorkers of color boost incomes and build wealth, making skills-building a key part of an equitable recovery, bolstering the hardest-hit workers and communities, and reimagining streets and public spaces.
A Blueprint for Economic Recovery
- Launch a major advertising campaign to make people feel like they’re missing out if they don’t come back
Andrew Robertson, President and CEO, BBDO - Spur the return to offices by supporting public programming that reinvigorates business districts
Larisa Ortiz, Managing Director, Streetsense - Save retail with city-backed master leases
Alicia Glen, Founder and Managing Principal, MSquared; former Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development - Create thousands of jobs by putting an additional teacher in every classroom
Richard Buery Jr., CEO, Robin Hood; former Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives - Leverage libraries to create a neighborhood-centric approach to economic recovery
Dennis M. Walcott, President and CEO, Queens Public Library - Push back against cities trying to poach NYC’s tech companies
Oliver Libby, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Hatzimemos - Attract film and TV production from Georgia and other states with new incentives
Jeff Zucker, President, CNN - Enact a tax on financial transactions or unoccupied condos to fund job-creating climate resiliency projects
Richard Kahan, Founder, Urban Assembly - Activate unused office spaces with artists-in-residence
Sally Tallant, President and Executive Director, Queens Museum - Spur public works jobs with a campaign to ensure passage of the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act, on the ballot next November
Amy Chester, Managing Director, Rebuild by Design - Address the COVID-linked youth unemployment crisis by subsidizing youth employment
Marjorie Parker, President and CEO, JobsFirstNYC - Fully embrace and promote the use of Excelsior Pass
Jerry Hultin, Chairman and Co-Founder, Global Futures Group - Counter the narrative that NYC is dead with a powerful Relaunch New York campaign
Deirdre Latour, President, Edelman New York - Launch a major tourism marketing campaign when Broadway returns
Barbara Byrne Denham, Senior Economist, Oxford Economics - Incentivize property owners to activate vacant storefronts
Susan Fine, Principal, Turnstyle Market - Use NYC’s purchasing power—and people power—to support local job creation
Christine Quinn, President and CEO, Win; former Speaker of the New York City Council - Give NYC & Company the funding needed to invest in an aggressive tourism campaign
Ellen V. Futter, President, American Museum of Natural History - Help employers bring back workers by giving them a payroll supplement
Tod Greenfield, Vice President, Martin Greenfield Clothiers - Revitalize Chinatown and its hard-hit commercial district by allowing more new technology to display its own unique, vibrant ethnic culture and identity
Wellington Chen, Executive Director, Chinatown Partnership - Enact a one-year waiver on city permitting processes that inhibit business creation and growth, building on what worked with Open Restaurants
Tim Tompkins, former President, Times Square Alliance - Convert empty hotels and offices into affordable housing
Rachel Fee, Executive Director, NYC Housing Conference - Turn vacant storefronts into cooperative spaces for small businesses
Jessica Johnson, President, Johnson Security Bureau - Create an NYC Climate Corps
Tonya Gayle, Executive Director, Green City Force - Encourage satellite offices throughout all five boroughs
Rosemary Scanlon, Economist, former Divisional Dean, NYU Schack Institute - Support transportation alternatives for New Yorkers wary of returning to trains and buses
Cesar Claro, President, Staten Island Economic Development Corporation - Transform vacant commercial spaces into small business incubators
David Bolotsky, Founder and CEO, Uncommon Goods - Create local business vouchers to stimulate local economic activity
Emil Skandul, Principal and Owner, Capitol Foundry - Spend capital dollars to help create good construction jobs and rebuild communities
Gary LaBarbera, President, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York - Upgrade NYCHA infrastructure and train NYCHA residents to do the work
Kenneth Lipper, former Deputy Mayor for Finance and Economic Development - Launch a media campaign to encourage public gatherings
Michael Dorf, Founder and CEO, City Winery - Develop a hybrid model where tenants and landlords can apply jointly for financial assistance
Valerie White, Executive Director, Local Initiatives Support Corporation - Invest in marketing to bring back tourists and reinvigorate NYC’s cultural life
Jack Lusk, President and CEO, Harris Rand Lusk - Create jobs for youth by investing in community-centered environmental and arts projects
Karen Fairbanks, Founding Partner, Marble Fairbanks - Make the subway free for a temporary period to get New Yorkers back on trains and into their offices
Gordon Davis, Partner, Venable; former Commissioner, NYC Parks Department - Address persistent retail vacancies by penalizing property owners that keep spaces empty
Cliff Chenfeld, Co-Founder, Razor and Tie - Forge public-private partnerships with New York-centered production entities
Rebecca Damon, Executive Vice President, SAG-AFTRA
- Pair tech-savvy CUNY students with small businesses that need help adopting technology
S. David Wu, President, Baruch College - Replicate the Brooklyn Navy Yard model elsewhere in NYC to make real estate more affordable for small businesses
Tim Tompkins, former President, Times Square Alliance - Tap teen photography students to help small businesses ramp up social media marketing
Seth Bornstein, Executive Director, Queens Economic Development Corporation - Let small businesses temporarily set up shop in city parks
Anthony Ramirez II, Founder, The Bronx Beer Hall - Help NYC restaurants compete for massive DOE and senior center food procurement dollars
Matthew Jozwiak, Founder and CEO, Rethink Food - Reduce the burden on small businesses by greatly expanding the number of violations that are curable
Gregg Bishop, former Commissioner, NYC Department of Small Business Services - Empower underemployed New Yorkers to help small businesses get online
Torrence Boone, Vice President of Global Client Partnerships and Site Leader for New York, Google - Create a Super CDFI to solve the financing gap for thousands of small businesses
Michael Schlein, President and CEO, Accion - Boost NYC’s restaurants and restaurant workers by supporting lease incentives and tip pooling
Danny Meyer, Founder and CEO, Union Square Hospitality Group - Leverage community assets to bolster neighborhood businesses and build local prosperity
Lloyd Cambridge, Founder and CEO, Progress Playbook - Step up investment in credit enhancement to get affordable capital to small businesses—and pair those investments with outcomes-based funding for technical assistance
Steven Cohen, President, and Rachel Van Tosh, Chief Operating Officer, Pursuit Community Finance - Make it easier for NYC’s many cash-based small businesses to access government grants and loans
John Wang, Founder and President, Asian American Business Development Center - Create relief grants program for street vendors
Mohammed Attia, Director, Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center - Subsidize housing for students studying design and technology in exchange for a work/study requirement to help local businesses
Justin Hendrix, CEO and Editor, Tech Policy Press - Enlist tech-savvy teens and young adults to help small businesses adopt technology
Seth Bornstein, Executive Director, Queens Economic Development Corporation - Reduce liability insurance premiums for restaurants and venues during lockdown periods
Michael Dorf, Founder and CEO, City Winery - Use technology to improve the permitting and regulatory process for small businesses
Gregg Bishop, former Commissioner, NYC Department of Small Business Services - Encourage corporate employees to interact with their local communities and support small businesses
John Wang, Founder and President, Asian American Business Development Center - Enlist local university students to help small businesses innovate, grow, and scale
Micah Kotch, Managing Director, URBAN-X - Provide direct financial support to cooperative businesses
Saduf Syal, Coordinating Director, NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives - Reduce the burden on small businesses by requiring impact statements for relevant legislative proposals
Jessica Walker, President and CEO, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce - Emulate the AgLanta initiative to scale up urban agriculture in NYC’s hard-hit communities of color
Mark Gardner, Principal, Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects - Create economic opportunity zones to spur inclusive innovation in key growth industries
Alexa von Tobel, Founder and Managing Partner, Inspired Capital - Work with community-based organizations and business assistance nonprofits to direct federally-funded relief grants to New York’s hardest-hit businesses and communities
Linda Baran, President, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce - Preserve industrial jobs by helping small manufacturers tap into the 21st-century economy
Barbara Blair, President, Garment District Alliance - Lift the caps on opportunities for street vending for licenses and permits
Mohammed Attia, Director, Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center - Incentivize corporate executives to mentor small businesses
Jessica Johnson, President, Johnson Security Bureau - Collaborate with local tech businesses to expand internet access and jobs
Clayton Banks, CEO, Silicon Harlem - Help businesses compete in the metaverse
Jason Musante, Global Chief Creative Officer, Huge
- Provide Baby Bonds to every NYC child born in poverty
Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, Senior Advisor to the President, Hunter College; former Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services - Establish a “Curb Recidivism Fellowship” to provide new supports for youth who’ve been involved in the criminal justice system
Clayton Banks, CEO, Silicon Harlem - Increase wages for the nonprofit human services workforce
Nathaniel Fields, CEO, Urban Resource Institute - Increase wages and income supports to build economic stability for low-income communities of color
Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO and Executive Director, FPWA - Help far more women and minority-owned construction firms succeed through capital funding and set-aside projects
Cheryl McKissack Daniel, President and CEO, McKissack - Build infrastructure to support entrepreneurship in New York City’s lower-income communities
Jo-Ann Rolle, Dean, School of Business, Medgar Evers College - Develop geographically targeted financial recovery supports for small businesses in the hardest-hit communities
Lourdes Zapata, President and CEO, SoBro - Expand Freelancers Hubs across all five boroughs
Rafael Espinal, Executive Director, Freelancers Union - Launch a community-owned cooperative hub in every borough
Saduf Syal, Coordinating Director, NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives - Help New Yorkers of color start and grow businesses in the marijuana industry
Marlene Cintron, President, Bronx Overall Development Corporation - Target investments to support businesses in hard-hit communities
Marjorie Parker, President and CEO, JobsFirstNYC - Create more inroads for BIPOC-led construction firms
Julio Peterson, Vice President of Real Estate, The Shubert Organization - Enhance supports for local businesses hit hardest by the pandemic
Nathalie Molina Niño, Investor and Author - Develop a neighborhood-based strategy for promoting and accessing local services
Margaret Honey, President and CEO, NY Hall of Science - Develop a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach to revitalize communities of color
Sister Paulette LoMonaco, formerly with Good Shepherd Services - Increase investment in facilities and resources within high-need communities
Anthony Munroe, President, Borough of Manhattan Community College - Expand benefits and extend local voting rights to the immigrant communities that will power New York’s economic recovery
Van Tran, Associate Professor of Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center - Support the East Harlem 125th Street Community Visioning Action Plan
Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy, WE ACT for Environmental Justice - Publicize the facts about companies' hiring of New Yorkers of color
Gail Mellow, Executive Director, New York Jobs CEO Council; former President, LaGuardia Community College
- Make NYC a global capital of public health
Seth Pinsky, CEO, 92nd Street Y; former President, NYC Economic Development Corporation - Plan now to deal with the next infectious disease, borrowing from what worked in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Vietnam
Jeffrey Shaman, Epidemiologist and Director, Climate and Health Program, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University - Help prepare NYC for the next pandemic by making New Yorkers healthier through investments in public health, preventative care and health literacy
Wafaa El-Sadr, University Professor, Dr. Mathilde Krim-amfAR Chair of Global Health, Columbia University - Create new jobs and career pipelines in mental health to respond to the growing demand for mental health services following the pandemic
Pamela Brier, former President and CEO, Maimonides Medical Center - Learn from the pandemic to make deeper progress reducing incidence of respiratory illness
Jeffrey Shaman, Epidemiologist and Director, Climate and Health Program, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University - Invest federal funding in integrated, community-based health
Jeanette Moy, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Public Health Solutions - Make New York the global city best prepared for the next pandemic
Gifford Miller, Principal, Signature Urban Properties; former New York City Council Speakre - Transform the city’s test- and-trace corps into a new public health workforce
Christine Kovich, Co-Founder, Harlem Biospace - Create the government infrastructure to prepare for the next pandemic by expanding the Mayor’s Office of Resiliency mandate to include public health threats
Sam Chandan, Silverstein Chair and Academic Dean, NYU Schack Institute - Continue to provide free and widespread rapid testing so that unvaccinated New Yorkers can participate safely in the local economy
Melva Miller, CEO, Association for a Better New York
- Launch major workforce training initiative focused on women and the care economy
Reshma Saujani, Founder, Girls Who Code - Revitalize the city through a green workforce pipeline for NYC youth
Sue Donoghue, President and Park Administrator, Prospect Park Alliance - Expand ESOL programs and other workforce training that help immigrants succeed in a changing economy
Steven Choi, Senior Advisor, New York Immigration Coalition - Prepare New Yorkers from underserved communities to replace municipal workers that will retire in the coming years
Arthur Cheliotes, Chairman Emeritus, CWA Local 1180 - Support the CUNY Internship-to-Employment Model
Felix Matos-Rodriguez, Chancellor, City University of New York - Close the digital divide and create onramps to tech careers through Community Help Desks
Bertina Ceccarelli, CEO, NPower - Create more inclusive career pathways by rethinking job requirements and scaling up apprenticeships
Jack Azagury, Market Unit Lead for US Northeast, Accenture - Invest in training and upskilling for direct care workers
Deborah Estrin, Professor of Computer Science and Associate Dean for Impact, Cornell Tech - Invest in specialized workforce training programs for entry-level roles in the life sciences that do not require a college degree
Joe Landolina, CEO and Co-Founder, Cresilon - Implement free community college and provide stipends to workers pursuing education
Rosemary Scanlon, Economist, former Divisional Dean, NYU Schack Institute - Invest in the facilities and faculty of NYC’s greatest engine of social mobility: CUNY
Michelle Anderson, President, Brooklyn College - Invest in the community college to senior college pipeline
S. David Wu, President, Baruch College - Help CUNY expand certificate programs, enabling more students to boost workplace skills and advance in their careers
Frank H. Wu, President, Queens College - Break down silos that have kept immigrants from benefiting from most workforce training programs
Wayne Ho, President and CEO, Chinese-American Planning Council - Expand opportunities for minority workers in construction by requiring apprentices on every government-funded contract
Bishop Calvin Rice, New Jerusalem Baptist Church - Train New Yorkers to maintain electric vehicle infrastructure
Celeste Frye, CEO, Public Works Partners - Invest in bridge programs that help New Yorkers with only a high school diploma access quality tech training
Plinio Ayala, President and CEO, Per Scholas - Improve job prospects for the many New Yorkers with low literacy levels by boosting funding for adult education
Eileen Torres, Executive Director, BronxWorks - Use carrots and sticks to get more large companies to fund job training programs
Wayne Ho, President and CEO, Chinese-American Planning Council - Remove barriers for dislocated or incumbent workers and expand financial aid for short-term programs
Anthony Munroe, President, Borough of Manhattan Community College - Create a talent-matching program for biotech
Orin Herskowitz, Executive Director, Columbia Technology Ventures - Invest in community-based organizations that provide workforce development programs for immigrant populations
Aakriti Khanal, Development and Research Manager, Adhikaar for Human Rights and Social Justice - Create Joint Technical Campuses in every borough to expand technical career pathways for high school students
Richard Kahan, Founder, Urban Assembly - Create an upskilling fund to expand access to tech careers
David Yang, Founder, Fullstack Academy - Revamp NYC’s vocational education programs for today’s economy
Kenneth Lipper, former Deputy Mayor for Finance and Economic Development - Build a youth-focused life sciences talent pipeline
Christine Kovich, Co-Founder, Harlem Biospace - Help New Yorkers acquire digital skills and establish a badge for those who meet baseline tech fluency
Celeste Frye, CEO, Public Works Partners - Invest in quality childcare for New Yorkers in workforce training programs
Plinio Ayala, President and CEO, Per Scholas - Boost funding for summer youth employment and NYCHA youth programs
Liz Neumark, Founder and Chair, Great Performances - Adopt a year-round public school schedule
Norma Kamali, Fashion Designer - Create and support workforce programs for women
Christine Quinn, President and CEO, Win; former Speaker of the New York City Council - Integrate clean energy workforce training and installation projects to get people to work and green the city
Chris Collins, Executive Director, Solar One - Foster alignment between philanthropy and non-profit organizations
Jerelyn Rodriguez, Co-Founder and CEO, The Knowledge House - Link workforce development, small business recovery, and job creation
Jukay Hsu, Co-Founder and CEO, Pursuit - Strengthen New York City’s competitive advantage in a global economy—and spur economic recovery— by focusing on talent development
Abby Jo Sigal, Founding CEO, HERE to HERE - Revamp NYC’s youth workforce development system to support more programs that prepare young adults for good jobs
Edward Summers, Founder, The Thinkubator - Target workforce development programs for domestic violence survivors and homeless individuals
Nathaniel Fields, CEO, Urban Resource Institute
- Transform every tenth street across NYC into “people streets”
Bjarke Ingels, Founder, Bjarke Ingels Group - Spur economic development in underserved communities by making long-overdue public realm improvements
Purnima Kapur, Chief of University Planning and Design, Harvard University - Transform regional commutes and city streets by banning private cars in Manhattan
Vishaan Chakrabarti, Founder, PAU - Launch a master plan to redesign NYC’s streets
Steve Hindy, founder, Brooklyn Brewery - Launch a WPA-style program to create jobs and upgrade aging infrastructure in city parks
Adrian Benepe, President, Brooklyn Botanic Garden; former Commissioner, NYC Parks Department - Improve bus infrastructure to support off-peak travel for essential workers
Betsy Plum, Executive Director, Riders Alliance - Spur private sector investment in open space and transit by replicating what worked in the East Midtown rezoning
Dan Garodnik, President and CEO, Riverside Park Conservancy; former Member of the New York City Council - Phase in paid commercial street parking to generate revenue for the city and take back space for outdoor dining and micromobility networks
Margaret Newman, Practice Leader for Urban Places and Smart Mobility, Stantec - Activate public spaces and spur arts performances in communities in every corner of NYC by developing tool kits for community groups
Eldon Scott, President, UrbanSpace NYC - Create a Department of Care to strengthen local capacity to reimagine, maintain, and care for public spaces.
Justin Garrett Moore, Program Officer, Humanities in Place, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation - Establish a commission to make NYC green—literally
Susan T. Rodriguez, Architect - Turn Eastern Parkway into a global cultural destination
Anne Pasternak, Director, Brooklyn Museum - Improve parks in underserved communities by investing in operations and maintenance
Robert Hammond, Co-Founder, The High Line - Improve the commutes of essential workers by subsidizing micromobility e-vehicle purchases
Paul Lipson, Principal, Barretto Bay Strategies - Launch a Saving Time initiative to reduce commute times for essential workers
Jerry Hultin, Chairman and Co-Founder, Global Futures Group - Extend the Hudson Bergen Light Rail to Staten Island
Jonathan Peters, Professor of Finance, College of Staten Island - Embrace the “Bigger Apple” through regional transportation and zoning reform
Jim Venturi, Founder and Principal, ReThink Studio - Support the use of city waterways for last-mile package delivery to decongest streets
Paul Lipson, Principal, Barretto Bay Strategies - Expand affordable housing options by allowing trailer parks in NYC
Jonathan Peters, Professor of Finance, College of Staten Island - Implement a feminist housing plan to support women and single parents
Jessica Katz, Executive Director, Citizens Housing and Planning Council - Create jobs and stabilize housing owners to make building renovations
Douglas Eisenberg, Founding Principal, A&E Real Estate Holdings - Repurpose unused commercial space as Big Tech-backed cooperative housing
Anil Dash, CEO, Glitch - Upzone industrial zones and transit-rich neighborhoods to build more housing
Alon Levy, Fellow, NYU Marron Institute - Prioritize affordable home ownership, not just rental housing
Sheena Wright, President and CEO, United Way of NYC - Reinstate city subsidies for community centers in affordable housing developments, redirecting funds from law enforcement
Karim Hutson, Founder and Managing Member, Genesis Companies - Double city funding for affordable housing development and preservation
Rachel Fee, Executive Director, NYC Housing Conference
- Create a Teaching Artist Jobs Corps
Kemi Ilesanmi, Executive Director, The Laundromat Project - Help struggling performing arts groups by providing free rehearsal spaces in schools
Randi Berry, Executive Director, IndieSpace - Provide a Basic Income for artists to work at cultural organizations
Sally Tallant, President and Executive Director, Queens Museum - Change city laws that effectively prevent NYC from building artist housing
Barbara S. Davis, COO, The Actors Fund - Clarify safety guidance for public-facing cultural organizations
Dan Gallant, Executive Director, Nuyorican Poets Cafe - Help artists rebuild New York City by investing now in long-term affordability
Esther Robinson and Guy Buckles, Co-Executive Directors, ArtBuilt - Replicate successful Depression-era arts programs
Louise Mirrer, President and CEO, New-York Historical Society - Create workforce development programs for people in the arts
Barbara S. Davis, COO, The Actors Fund - Expand and improve recovery support for NYC’s small arts organizations
Dan Gallant, Executive Director, Nuyorican Poets Cafe - Streamline the funding and permitting process for live outdoor performances
Melva Miller, CEO, Association for a Better New York - Ensure “Community Facility” zoned space goes to community-based arts and culture organizations
Randi Berry, Executive Director, IndieSpace - Create grant-matched Individual Development Accounts for artists and entrepreneurs
Esther Robinson and Guy Buckles, Co-Executive Directors, ArtBuilt - Expand the Cultural Institutions Group
Louise Mirrer, President and CEO, New-York Historical Society - Ensure that city arts funding goes to organizations that pay a living wage
Mary McColl, Executive Director, Actors’ Equity Association - Rezone commercial space to lower occupancy costs for independent creatives and artist cooperatives
Jonathan Marvel, Founding Principal, Marvel Designs - Rethink commercial and retail space to empower artists and encourage creative industries
Lexy Funk, Founder and CEO, Brooklyn Industries - Provide grants and guidance that help arts organizations across the 5 boroughs take advantage of the Open Culture program
Katie Shima, Design Director, Situ Studio - Help cultural institutions bounce back withsubsidized admission
Gordon Davis, Partner, Venable; former Commissioner, NYC Parks Department
- Create NYC Coin: a local currency for the five boroughs
Fred Wilson, Founder, Union Square Ventures - Help NYC become a global leader in the sex tech industry
Cindy Gallop, Founder, MakeLoveNotPorn - Attract early-stage entrepreneurs by making NYC a test bed for new technologies
Shaun Stewart, CEO, Newlab - Break the logjam around housing development in NYC with a grand bargain around housing and jobs
Rafael Cestero, President, Community Preservation Corp.; former Commissioner, NYC Department of Housing, Preservation and Development - Boost the city’s economy by making it easier for NYC startups to win city technology contracts
Anil Dash, CEO, Glitch - Develop a master plan that charts a path for creating a stronger and more inclusive NYC economy through 2050
Winston Fisher, Partner, Fisher Brothers; Co-Chair, NYC Regional Economic Development Council - Create good jobs by making it far easier for hospitals to expand and modernize
Steven Corwin, President, New York Presbyterian - Help women entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses by supporting family care
Jo Ann Corkran, Managing Partner, Golden Seeds - Create a Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Relations to help make NYC’s case in Albany and Washington
Carol O’Cleireacain, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia SIPA; former Director, Mayor's Office of Management and Budget, and Commissioner, NYC Department of Finance - Support infrastructure projects by streamlining the public procurement process
Louis Coletti, President and CEO, Building Trades Employers’ Association - Deliver city services better and more efficiently by vastly upgrading NYC government’s technology systems
Andrew Rasiej, CEO, Civic Hall - Accelerate electric vehicle adoption with far more charging stations
Cheryl Cohen Effron, Founder, Conjunction Fund - Build a Green Jobs Task Force to power NYC’s clean energy transition
Tim Cawley, CEO, Con Edison - Incentivize companies to hire employees based in NYC
Andrew Rasiej, CEO, Civic Hall - Launch a Startup Culture Card to retain and grow start-ups and tech talent
Steven Rosenbaum, Executive Director, NYC Media Lab - Refrain from excessive tax increases that could undermine NYC’s economic recovery
Stanley Grayson, Chief Operating Officer, M.R. Beal; former Deputy Mayor for Finance and Economic Development - Support the growth of a key NYC industry by extending the film/tv tax credit program
Rebecca Damon, Executive Vice President, SAG-AFTRA - Harness NYC’s competitive advantages in the creative economy
Kai Falkenberg, General Counsel, G/O; former First Deputy Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment - Create a Newlab-type facility for life sciences
Shaun Stewart, CEO, Newlab - Grow NYC’s presence in the adult entertainment industry
Cindy Gallop, Founder, MakeLoveNotPorn - Revise the real estate tax methodology for commercial entertainment venues that do not receive any public subsidies, tax benefits, or other financial assistance from the city
Julio Peterson, Vice President of Real Estate, The Shubert Organization - Create a Construction Czar to oversee and coordinate major projects
Louis Coletti, President and CEO, Building Trades Employers’ Association - Invest in Sunnyside Yard Intermodal Station and other large infrastructure projects that enhance NYC’s competitiveness
Elizabeth Lusskin, President, Long Island City Partnership - Support manufacturing of PPE and sterilization products and services
Marlene Cintron, President, Bronx Overall Development Corporation - Invest in broadband for modernizing manufacturing in the industrial sector
Elizabeth Lusskin, President, Long Island City Partnership - Build a Tourism Dashboard
Vijay Dandapani, CEO, Hotel Association of New York City - Invest in manufacturing companies that sustain and generate employment in marginalized communities
Tod Greenfield, Vice President, Martin Greenfield Clothiers - Keep the tech industry in NYC
Dawn Barber, Co-Founder, NYC Creative Tech Week - Make Willets Point a tech and finance hub
Dian Yu, Executive Director, Downtown Flushing Transit Hub Business Improvement District - Keep workers with families in NYC
Sara Holoubek, CEO, Luminary Labs - Ramp up local media coverage and civic engagement
Dick Ravitch, former Lieutenant Governor, New York State; former Chairman and CEO, Metropolitan Transportation Authority - Make New York City the destination for cutting-edge construction technology and expertise by incentivizing innovation and attracting new and diverse talent
Claire Weisz, Founding Principal, WXY Studio - Facilitate conversations with Fortune 500 executives and early-stage founders to help NYC tech startups succeed and grow
Karin Klein, Founding Partner, Bloomberg Beta
- Offer a re-orientation program for 3K-12 students
Jeanette Moy, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Public Health Solutions - Boost the impact of local nonprofits to help hard-hit communities by paying nonprofits on time
Gail Mellow, Executive Director, New York Jobs CEO Council; former President, LaGuardia Community College - Prioritize essential workers in affordable housing lotteries
Jessica Katz, Executive Director, Citizens Housing and Planning Council - Embrace branch libraries as a key driver of an equitable recovery
Katy Knight, President and Executive Director, Siegel Family Endowment - Provide financial relief to low-income New Yorkers by extending energy savings programs to summer months
Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy, WE ACT for Environmental Justice - Continue funding for civil legal services for low-income New Yorkers
Sheila S. Boston, President, New York City Bar Association - Support efforts to train restaurant workers for current industry needs
Rev. Prabhu Sigamani, Director, ROC-NY; and Director, CHOW, ROCUnited - Support the informal childcare ecosystem
Sheena Wright, President and CEO, United Way of NYC - Provide new income supports for NYC’s fast-growing (but low-wage) direct care workforce
Jodi M. Sturgeon, President, PHI - Create new office targeting K-12 students who disconnected from school during pandemic
Reshma Saujani, Founder, Girls Who Code - Support initiatives to boost financial literacy among marginalized communities
Neil Blumenthal, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Warby Parker - Create a city-funded Section 8-like housing benefit
Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, Senior Advisor to the President, Hunter College; former Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services - Improve inclusivity through a path to citizenship for undocumented New Yorkers
Jennifer Sun, Co-Executive Director, Asian Americans for Equality - Persuade NYC’s leading law firms to commit their pro bono time to help New York-based clients
Deborah Farone, Strategic Marketing and Management Advisor, Farone Advisors - Integrate and expand ethnic studies educational programming
Vivian Louie, Professor of Urban Policy and Planning and Director of the Asian American Studies Center and Program, Hunter College - Leverage the city’s rich nonprofit sector to spur interracial/ethnic dialogue
Vivian Louie, Professor of Urban Policy and Planning and Director of the Asian American Studies Center and Program, Hunter College - Build a new, foundational safety net centered on the needs of immigrant communities
Steven Choi, Senior Advisor, New York Immigration Coalition - Launch a Care Corps to create quality caregiving jobs while helping parents and other family caregivers pursue education and training
Katy Knight, President and Executive Director, Siegel Family Endowment. - Create a new “flexicurity” program to cushion the blow for New Yorkers who lose work due to automation
Emil Skandul, Founder, Capitol Foundry - Ensure a stable, well-trained security workforce in all homeless shelters
Kyle Bragg, President, 32BJ - Use city-owned real estate and unused lots to create indoor spaces for teens and young adults
Alain Sylvain, Founder, Sylvain Labs - Implement real estate tax abatement for nonprofits
Paul Wolf, Co-Founder, Denham Wolf Real Estate - Provide remote work opportunities for New Yorkers who must shoulder at-home caregiving
Nathalie Molina Niño, Investor and Author - Offer free, extended-day childcare for eligible families
Eileen Torres, Executive Director, BronxWorks - Create and fund a prevailing wage for the human services sector
Frederick Shack, CEO, Urban Pathways - Continue to exercise the city’s local power to establish standards for gig workers
Kyle Bragg, President, 32BJ - Require free or highly subsidized Internet in every new affordable housing unit
Cheryl Cohen Effron, Founder, Conjunction Fund - Tackle the digital divide through broadband infrastructure and digital literacy support
Jennifer Sun, Co-Executive Director, Asian Americans for Equality - Scale up funding and speed up rollout to close the digital divide
Barbara Byrne Denham, Senior Economist, Oxford Economics
- Prioritize quality of life investments that help NYC attract and retain its talented and diverse workforce
Seth Pinsky, CEO, 92nd Street Y; former President, NYC Economic Development Corporation - Focus on the fundamentals
Mary Ann Tighe, CEO, New York Tri-State Region, CBRE - Maintaining safety and cleanliness must be a priority
Stanley Grayson, Chief Operation Officer, M.R. Beal; former Deputy Mayor for Finance and Economic Development - Invest more resources in street cleaning
Vijay Dandapani, CEO, Hotel Association of New York City - Restore safety for residents and businesses by bringing together community leaders and NYPD
Dian Yu, Executive Director, Downtown Flushing Transit Hub Business Improvement District - Prioritize efforts to keep NYC safe
Kenneth T. Jackson, Barzun Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University; President Emeritus, New-York Historical Society; Editor in Chief, The Encyclopedia of New York City - Enlist neighborhood alliances to boost public perception of safety
Neil Blumenthal, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Warby Parker
Through these ideas, one clear theme that emerges is an unwavering belief in the power of New Yorkers to tackle big challenges together, including ideas to unlock the potential of emerging technologies and new growth industries; invest in low-income entrepreneurs across every community; transform the urban landscape with “people streets;” put teaching artists back to work supporting community-led revitalization; and make New York the best-prepared city in the world to manage the next public health crisis.
To read the full report, visit the Center for an Urban Future.