Each year, the Lunar New Year is an opportunity to celebrate our city’s rich cultural diversity and acknowledge the vital role that Asian Americans have always played in our city’s culture and economy. This year we celebrate the year of the Ox, which signifies the importance of hard work, diligence, persistence, and honesty. New Yorkers understand the importance of hard work and persistence better than anyone as our City continues battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Immigrants and communities of color were hit particularly hard by this pandemic, facing higher rates of infections and job losses, and continue to keep our city moving as frontline workers. Through it all, Comptroller Stringer has continued to fight for all New Yorkers to ensure everyone, regardless of socioeconomic or immigration status, can get ahead in this city. From expanding aid for small businesses and increasing opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses (M/WBEs) to distributing free masks and food, Comptroller Stringer continues to support the Asian American community during this difficult time. Here in New York City we know that diversity is our strength, and as we look forward to the year of the Ox, Comptroller Stringer remains committed to ensuring an equitable recovery and rebuilding our communities to be even stronger than before.
Leveraging CUNY to Develop New York City’s Workforce
In October, Comptroller Stringer proposed a comprehensive overhaul of workforce development in New York City, including making CUNY community colleges free for all to build a more competitive and inclusive post-pandemic economy and to better align training with the jobs of tomorrow. Comptroller Stringer’s workforce development plan aims to break down systemic barriers that have historically excluded women, people of color, immigrants and young people from higher-wage industries. It includes tuition-free community college, a universal paid internship program for CUNY students, more Career and Technical Education and Early College High Schools, an expansion of Certified Apprenticeship, Subsidized Wage, and Bridge Programs and more.
Making the Grade: New York City Agency Report Card on M/WBEs
Every year, Comptroller Stringer issues “Making the Grade: New York City Agency Report Card on M/WBEs,” which evaluates the City’s progress is creating economic opportunities for M/WBEs. This year, our analysis found that M/WBEs continue to face persistent inequities: 80 percent of City agency grades measuring M/WBE spending remained stagnant or declined since FY 2019. Of the $22.5 billion in contracts the City awarded in FY 2020, just 4.9 percent were awarded to M/WBEs. Overall, the City earned its second passing “C” grade after four consecutive years of “D+” grades. Broken down by category, it earned an “F” with African Americans, a “D” with women, a “B” with Hispanic Americans, and an “A” with Asian Americans. This year’s report analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic shutdown on New York City’s M/WBE community, after 85 percent of M/WBEs reported in a July 2020 survey that they could not survive the next six months.
To break down barriers for M/WBEs, Comptroller Stringer called on the City to require transparent timelines for RFP awards, mandate unconscious bias training for all employees, and develop a targeted plan to address areas where there is low M/WBE utilization even when there is M/WBE availability.
“Save Main Street” Crash Relief Program for Small Businesses
In August, Comptroller Stringer proposed a “Save Main Street” crash relief program to help small businesses fighting for survival get back on their feet. The report found that more than 2,800 small businesses had permanently closed between March 1 and July 10, 2020, including at least 1,289 restaurants and 844 retail businesses. Restaurants, retail, and personal services businesses make up 33 percent of recent job losses, and the immigrant New Yorkers and communities of color who hold the majority of these jobs have been hit hardest. Unemployment rates among Asian (22 percent) and foreign-born (21 percent) New Yorkers have surged to nearly twice as high as white New Yorkers (14 percent). As part of his plan for an equitable five-borough economy, Comptroller Stringer issued recommendations that would help small businesses access millions of dollars in federal aid, provide tax incentives, streamline City approvals for reopening, and drive new businesses to high-vacancy corridors.
Restarting New York City’s Capital Program
In November, Comptroller Stringer renewed his call for the City to restart its lagging capital program and outlined how the capital program’s long-term benefits – including job creation, economic opportunity, and continued capital investment – would help jumpstart our economic recovery. Every billion dollars in construction spending creates nearly 5,000 direct construction jobs and hundreds of other indirect jobs. The City’s construction program is also a major source of contracts for M/WBEs. Comptroller Stringer is urging the City to once again invest in our capital program which is critical to maintaining our assets in a state of good repair, promoting economic recovery, and providing opportunities to build wealth for women and communities of color.