The Center For An Urban Future Has Tons Of Ideas From New Yorkers To Revive NYC’s Economy

The Center for an Urban Future has a new blueprint for NYC’s economic recovery, featuring concrete ideas from more than 175 New Yorkers from Harlem to Hollis to spur a lasting and equitable economic recovery in New York.

Published this morning, the report features nearly 250 ideas, providing a roadmap of actionable steps that New York’s current and future leaders should consider implementing to ensure that the city’s nascent recovery takes hold and accelerates, address the many structural economic challenges that arose during the pandemic and build a stronger and more equitable economy over the long run.

The ideas in the report come from a diverse cross-section of engaged New Yorkers—including small business owners, leaders of community-based organizations, artists, academic leaders, epidemiologists, labor leaders, architects, urban planners, transit advocates, and CEOs of major corporations.

Among the 175+ individuals with ideas in the report are: Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer; architect Bjarke Ingels; CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez; United Way of NYC CEO Sheena Wright, Sylvia’s owner Tre’Ness Woods-Black; Columbia epidemiologist Wafaa El-Sadr; Union Square Ventures founder Fred Wilson; Bronx Beer Hall founder Anthony Ramirez; Queens Public Library CEO Dennis Walcott; Girls Who Code Founder Reshma Saujani; New York Presbyterian President Steven Corwin; New Jerusalem Baptist Church pastor Bishop Calvin Rice; CNN President Jeff Zucker; High Line co-founder Robert Hammond; 32BJ SEIU President Kyle Bragg; Restaurant Opportunity Center of New York Director Prabhu Sigamani; BBDO CEO Andrew Robertson; New York Immigration Coalition senior advisor Steve Choi; Queens Museum President Sally Tallant; Google New York Site Leader Torrence Boone; The Laundromat Project Executive Director Kemi Ilesanmi; and Brooklyn College President Michelle Anderson.

The report also features ideas from six former deputy mayors, five former city commissioners, two former City Council Speakers; and other former city and state officials.

The report, which was made possible through support from Winston C. Fisher and Fisher Brothers, argues that New York’s next mayor—and the many other new leaders across city government entering office in January 2022—will need to take a number of steps to create an economic recovery that is lasting and equitable.

The report offers specific ideas and recommended actions that are organized into 10 core principles:

• Spark NYC’s economic comeback;
• Strengthen NYC’s small businesses;
• Help New Yorkers of color boost incomes and build wealth;
• Embrace public health to make New Yorkers healthier and grow the economy;
• Make skills building the centerpiece of an equitable recovery;
• Reimagine streets and public spaces and re-invest in vital urban infrastructure;
• Boost the hard-hit arts sector to bring back the city’s magnetism and vitality;
• Build a stronger and more inclusive economy for the long run;
• Prioritize hard-hit workers and communities; and
• Shore up the building blocks of NYC’s economic success.

Although New York’s rebound from the COVID-19 crisis is already well underway, the report concludes that the economic recovery is fragile and incomplete—and that bold action is still needed. This report points the way.

Follow the link to read the full report, titled: “RE:NEW YORK CITY – 250 Ideas From New Yorkers to Revive NYC’s Economy, Spark Good Jobs, and Build a More Equitable City.”

The Center for an Urban Future (CUF) is a leading think tank focused on building a stronger and more inclusive economy in New York and expanding economic opportunities for all New Yorkers.

This report is part of CUF’s Middle-Class Jobs Project, a research initiative made possible by the generous support of Fisher Brothers and Winston C. Fisher.

CUF receives general operating support from The Clark Foundation, the Bernard F. and Alva B. Gimbel Foundation, and the Altman Foundation.

They are also grateful for ongoing support from a number of other philanthropic funders.