The sky-high cost of housing has understandably been at the top of the list of concerns among the dozens of candidates begging for votes in these final days leading up to the primary election on Sept 12. But as we prepare to head to the polls, voters should also realize that New York is a tale of two cities when it comes to jobs.
From a distance, the jobs picture looks great. The local economy is booming and jobs are being created at a rapid clip, with no recession in sight. The city has a 4.7% unemployment rate, which is lower than last year’s and arguably amounts to full employment.
A string of high-profile companies have announced plans to locate or expand in the five boroughs. Walt Disney is currently shooting more than 50 episodes of its Marvel superhero shows, and Netflix is set to open its first New York City outpost in Chelsea later this year.
The Aetna insurance company has announced it will relocate its headquarters from Hartford, Conn., to the west side of Manhattan in 2018, and the Resorts World casino at Aqueduct has announced a $400 million expansion expected to create 3,000 construction jobs and an additional 1,000 casino jobs.
All well and good. But things look very different for the estimated 136,483 New Yorkers between ages 18 and 24 who aren’t in school. Their unemployment rate was 13% in 2015, according to the Community Service Society.
Back in 2014, the de Blasio administration unveiled something called Career Pathways, a pledge to fund local organizations that help people develop the skills needed to land a job.
But the funding hasn’t appeared, according to Jesse Laymon, director of policy and advocacy for the NYC Employment and Training Coalition, a coalition of 180 groups that provide job placement and skills training for unemployed and under-employed New Yorkers.
“The administration doesn’t seem to have a fire under them to execute on the plan they have,” Laymon wrote in a recent Daily News Op-Ed. “And in a re-election year, they seem more focused on unveiling glossy new promises than delivering on the tangible results promised years ago.”
Under Career Pathways, the administration pledged to build support for job training groups up to a robust $60 million per year by 2020. But according to Laymon, the amount designated in the mayor’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget is a paltry $6.5 million.
“That’s a canary in the coal mine,” Laymon told me, predicting that the city’s surging economic prosperity will bypass many people by unless the city steps up.
His recommendation to the mayor? “Fund your own plan.”
That would be a good start. We’ll also need more and better engagement from the City Council and other local officials, who too often fall silent, mesmerized by the prospect of a flashy ribbon-cutting or announcement by a local company.
Aetna’s new Chelsea skyscraper, currently under construction, will be wedged between an Apple Store and Google’s New York headquarters. According to the Hartford Courant, “The modern glass-and-steel structure has private terraces on each floor and a rooftop park — complete with a putting green — that overlooks the Hudson River. It will also feature the largest Starbucks store in the world, a two-level, 20,000 square-foot space.”
The insurance giant was lured by $24 million in state tax credits and nearly $10 million in incentives from the city, including a $3.8 million property tax break and more than $4 million in foregone sales tax on materials used to build the new headquarters.
That all sounds great — but the company is only bringing 250 jobs to New York, mostly senior executives relocating from Hartford. As one critic pointed out, the combined city and state incentives amount to government paying $136,000 per job for positions that mostly already existed.
Surely we can do better.
During what’s left of the campaign season, voters should press candidates at every level — including the City Council — to avoid Aetna-style giveaway deals. Instead, we should be ramping up funding to the nonprofits that do the difficult work of helping young people get their high school diplomas, community college degrees and entry-level career opportunities.
It’s not as glamorous as adding a new office tower and the world’s biggest Starbucks to Chelsea. But it’s a much better path to closing New York’s yawning income gap.
Louis is political anchor of NY1 News.
